


And in the Darkness Bind Them

by LuckyLadybug



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Adventure, Amnesia, Duel Monsters (Yu-Gi-Oh), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fantasy, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Male Friendship, Mind Control, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-18
Updated: 2021-03-26
Packaged: 2021-03-27 02:00:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 23,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30115419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LuckyLadybug/pseuds/LuckyLadybug
Summary: Yami Marik is at large and releases Lawton for kicks. Lawton decides to take over the Duel Monsters dimension, prompting a widescale mission to stop him. But before everything is over, Kalin will be forced to face the demons he's long kept buried in his heart.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 3





	1. Baddest Man in the Whole Dang Town

**Author's Note:**

> The characters are not mine and the story is! This takes place post-series for both shows, and for YGO Classic, it's my Pendulum Swings verse. In my 5Ds verse, Bruno has returned in his Antinomy persona (with me drawing some inspiration from Duel Links' Antinomy event) and Kalin has become close friends with his former boss Radley. Kalin and Radley have each separately visited the YGO Classic characters and those adventures will be referenced here, Kalin's story Cut Too Deep and Radley's story One Ring to Rule Them All? Thanks to conversations with Amber2002161, I also decided to explore the concept of Kalin as a Psychic duelist, but my take may be different from others'. Chapters titles will be taken from various songs.

Life in The Facility was much different now than it had been under Armstrong. Prisoners weren't mistreated and tortured and there was more of an emphasis on rehabilitation. Branding and tracking was no longer performed either; there would be no more of the cruel marks that Yusei, Crow, and Kalin bore.

Even so, Lawton wanted out. Prison was the last place he had ever wanted to go.

In the meantime, he had made the best of his situation by figuring out how to rule over the other prisoners as Tanner had done before him. He wasn't happy unless he was micro-managing others. But it was only a temporary solution; he was always plotting, scheming, hoping to get out. And when he did, there were certain people who were going to be very sorry. Very few had ever gotten the drop on him, making Yusei Fudo and Kalin Kessler special. He would see that they both suffered for what they had done.

It was that consuming desire for vengeance that fueled him. But he didn't plan to just focus on that; no, he wanted to find a way to take control of something precious to them and take it away from them as part of his revenge. Then he would not only hurt them—he would be in a position of power again. And he would never let it go.

It was one night when he was alone in his cell that he heard the voice.

"I can help you get out."

He sat up with a start, looking around the enclosed space. "Who's there?!"

"You don't need to know a name. But it's been a long time since I was free to cause chaos and destruction. We could . . . help each other, as they say."

"I'm listening," Lawton said.

"Come with me and you'll be able to rule not just tiny towns, but entire realms. Make the entire populations of worlds your slaves!"

"And how would you have so much power?" Lawton frowned.

"I have access to something you've never considered—magic."

"Magic," Lawton scoffed.

"There was a supernatural force in Crash Town. Surely you were aware of that, or at least suspected. No matter who was dueling, real damage was almost always dealt when they lost."

". . . I'll admit I recognized something was going on," Lawton said. "I didn't care that much."

"Your vision was too small. Expand it, and you will have all the power you want."

"I like it," Lawton sneered. "I'll come with you." He got off the bed. "But while we're at it, let's collect a couple of other people too. I'll need some subordinates to help me control ‘entire populations.'"

The stranger began to laugh. It was a demonic sound straight from Hell.

Lawton did have to wonder if he had made a mistake when he heard that. But he pushed the thought aside and stepped out of the cell when the door opened.  
****  
"Luna? Luna, wake up."

Luna jumped a mile. She was back in her own bed in New Domino City, having missed her hometown too much to stay away for long. Leo was asleep in the other bed, undisturbed by the sudden voice. But Luna knew what she had heard.

"Ancient Fairy Dragon?" she whispered. "What's going on?"

She hadn't heard from the Duel Monster since the Crimson Dragon had taken back their marks. Her charge to help protect the Duel Monsters' world was separate, but everything had been so peaceful that she had hoped she wouldn't be needed again.

"Both of our worlds are in danger," Ancient Fairy Dragon responded. "An evil being has escaped from the world of shadows and released several dangerous humans from prison. They're trying to take over the Duel Monsters' world with forbidden magic and will come for your world next!"

Luna was up like a shot. "Oh no! What can I do to help?!"

"Gather all of your friends and I will help you open a portal to the Duel Monsters' world. They must be stopped right away! They're already enslaving us with the magic they were given by this evil creature."

Leo was stirring now, blinking sleepy eyes at Luna as she continued the conversation.

"Do you know anything else?! Who are these people?" Luna asked.

"I don't know who the evil being is, but the humans are called Lawton, Barbara, and Malcolm."

Luna froze. "Yusei talked about them! They were causing a lot of trouble for Kalin!"

"Please bring him too. Hurry, Luna . . ." Ancient Fairy Dragon's voice began to fade.

"Ancient Fairy Dragon!" Luna exclaimed.

"What's going on, Luna?" Leo mumbled. He rubbed his eyes. "Are we going to have to save the world again?"

"We're going to have to save two worlds, Leo," Luna replied, grabbing for the phone.

That woke Leo up like a shot. "Two worlds?!" he squealed.

"Shh! Don't wake Mom and Dad!" Luna hissed.

They were both thrilled that their parents had not only wanted to spend time with them again, but had been willing to come home with them. They didn't, however, want to let them in on most of what they had really been doing with their friends. It had been hard enough to convince them to come back because one of the friends had developed amnesia and Luna and Leo wanted to try to help restore his memories.

"What's this about two worlds?!" Leo whispered.

"You'll hear me explain it all to Yusei," Luna said as she dialed.  
****  
Yusei was half-asleep when he answered the phone to Luna. But he quickly roused up as she told of the urgent news.

"Thanks for letting me know, Luna," he said grimly. "I'll see to it that Kalin and the others find out. We'll all meet you and Leo outside your apartment building within the hour."

Across the room, Antinomy also stirred. "What is it?" he mumbled.

Yusei looked over at him. "Trouble," he said.

That instantly woke his friend and self-appointed protector up. "What kind of trouble?" He sat up on the bed, his hands on his knees.

"Old enemies coming back," Yusei said. "I have to let Kalin know. Jack, Crow, and Akiza too."

It was still surreal that Bruno was back. Only he wasn't really Bruno, not when he didn't remember being Bruno and only seemed to remember his Antinomy persona. He also didn't remember anything about his time as Antinomy other than the need to protect Yusei.

The strangest and most unexplainable thing of all, however, was that Kalin had been right in his prior observation. Antinomy had been restored as a human, not an android. Yusei hadn't been able to get Kalin's idea out of his mind, so he had finally asked Antinomy if he would be willing to be examined to discover the truth. Antinomy had agreed, but the truth had only led to more questions.

How was it possible? Yusei couldn't really believe that the future had not been changed; there were too many indications that it had been. But by all time-travel rules Yusei had heard of, the android Bruno wouldn't even exist anymore in that case, because with the future changed, there would be no need for Z-one to make any of the androids and send them back into the past. Still, Yusei didn't want to believe that Bruno would never exist. Everyone still remembered him, and now his alter ego was literally alive and well, so there was definitely more going on than any of them could understand yet. For now, Yusei wanted to just enjoy it . . . and to continue trying to restore Antinomy's memories of his time as Bruno.

He came to attention as the number he had dialed finally yielded results, in the form of another half-awake voice. "Hello? . . . Do you know what time it is?"

"Yeah, I do," Yusei said. "I'm sorry, Radley, but this is important. Can you get Kalin?"

". . . Alright." Yusei could hear Radley fumbling around in the dark and then swearing quietly when he stumbled into a piece of furniture. Finally the door opened and he successfully stepped into the hall. "Kalin?"

Another door opened. "Who's on the phone?"

"Yusei. Here." Radley handed him the phone and wandered back to bed.

"Yusei?" In contrast to Radley, Kalin sounded very much awake. "What's wrong?"

"Luna found out there's trouble," Yusei told him. "Lawton, Malcolm, and Barbara escaped from The Facility and are trying to take over the Duel Monsters' world with some kind of magic. We've all got to go there and stop them, and I thought you'd want in on it."

"I do," Kalin said immediately. "And I think Radley will too. He's still sore about how Lawton humiliated him and defeated him in one turn."

"We need to go right away, though," Yusei said. "Can you get him awake enough to ride out to Luna and Leo's in an hour?"

"I think so," Kalin said. "We'll see you then, Yusei."

He hung up and took the cordless phone back into Radley's room. He had to smirk in a bit of amusement at his former boss sprawled all over the twin bed, with all limbs hanging half-off the mattress. Apparently he had just walked in and literally collapsed into the pillow. Kalin hated to disturb him, but he knew Radley would definitely want to be involved—not just to go after Lawton, but as a loyal friend. He would want to be on hand in case Kalin needed help.

"Radley?" Kalin touched his shoulder.

Radley jerked under his hand. He liked physical contact, but it was so rare for Kalin to initiate it that apparently doing so was enough to wake him up. "What?" He rolled onto his back. "What did Yusei want?"

"Lawton's broke out of prison and is trying to take over the Duel Monsters' world with magic," Kalin matter-of-factly informed him. "I'm going to go help try to stop him. You want in?"

Radley sat up. "Of course I want in! Only . . ." He frowned. "What on Earth would he want with the Duel Monsters' world?"

"I have no idea," Kalin grunted. "Maybe there's some kind of valuable resources there. But we have to meet the others in an hour."

Radley got off the bed. "I'll get ready."

He grabbed his pendant off the nightstand as he went, fumbling with the clasp while he put it on. Kalin shook his head and turned away. Radley always wore that thing. Kalin had never seen the appeal of men's jewelry, but he respected Radley's desire to wear it.

Within ten minutes they were both ready to go and their second-in-commands were prepared to take over duties in Crash Town that day, or for however long they were gone. It was still dark as they collected their motorcycles from the garage and prepared to head out.

Radley hesitated for a moment. "Hey, Kalin . . . if Lawton's got hold of some kind of magic, how are we even going to stop him? You said Yusei told you that the Crimson Dragon took back the Signer marks."

Kalin sighed. "If it comes down to it, I might have to use my ability to make duel damage real. It looks like that and Akiza's powers are the only magic we'll have. Hopefully we'll be able to beat him mostly or entirely with smarts."

"Hopefully," Radley agreed. "If we need magic, we do have . . . one other resource, but I'm not sure how helpful it would be. . . ."

Kalin looked to him in surprise. "What resource?!"

Radley finally touched his pendant. "This is a magical object. But aside from randomly creating time and dimensional portals and purifying ancient, evil Scandinavian magical items when they try to destroy the world, I'm not sure what it does."

Kalin just stared at him. ". . . You kept that a secret all this time?"

"This object caused a lot of trouble for me," Radley grunted. "But . . . it also led to my meeting some very nice people." He sighed. "I could have left it back with them. But they let me keep it and I used it to get back home. I don't know, I guess I thought it might come in handy again sometime."

Kalin smiled. "Maybe it will."

With that they drove off, side by side, heading for nearby New Domino City.  
****  
Everyone managed to gather at the apartment building on time. But then they stood around awkwardly, not quite sure what to do.

"Okay, so we're here," Crow said at last. "So now what?"

"Ancient Fairy Dragon said she'd help me open a portal so we can all get over there," Luna said.

"Well, she can totally do that any time now," Crow said.

As if on cue, Ancient Fairy Dragon suddenly spoke to Luna through their bond. "Luna, is everyone there?"

"Yes, Ancient Fairy Dragon," Luna said. "We're ready."

"Alright. Concentrate and we'll open the portal."

Luna concentrated. At first nothing happened, but then power began to course through her arms, down her hands, and out her fingertips. A portal started to open in space.

"Wait a minute!" Kalin suddenly spoke. "Something isn't right here. She couldn't open a portal for all of us that time we were trying to rescue Yugi and those others. Why can she do it now?!"

Radley looked to him with a start. "Yugi?!"

Luna paused. "You're right!" she remembered. "But . . . it's definitely really her talking to me! Maybe she can do it now that she's had more time to get her powers back after being trapped?"

Crow jumped back as claws tore through the portal. "Maybe . . . or maybe not!"

Leo yelped. "Was that supposed to happen?!"

Luna frowned. "No." She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate. "Ancient Fairy Dragon? What's going on? You couldn't open portals for a big group of people before."

"Luna, you must not waste time! Help me open the portal!"

Now an entire monster was coming through. Crow screamed, Antinomy pushed Yusei back, and Akiza quickly stepped forward to help the situation. "Ivy Shackles!" She held up her card and it became real, plastering itself over the portal and pushing the monster back through to its side.

Luna stopped concentrating, allowing the portal to shrink and vanish. "Something is really wrong," she said in dismay. "We really do have to get over there! But how?"

Kalin looked to Radley. By now it looked like there was only one possible option.

Radley sighed, heavily. Using the pendant's power was draining, and he wasn't even sure it would work when he wanted it to. But it did look like that was their only option at this point.

". . . I'll try to get us over there," he said at last.

"You?!" Jack scoffed. "What could you do?!" From his tone, he seemed to think Radley was the least likely of all of them to be able to perform such a feat.

"He can do it," Kalin insisted. He smiled at Radley. "I believe in you."

Radley managed a bit of a smile in turn. "Okay. Now, I'm not sure how this is going to work. I only did it successfully once before, and that worked by visualizing hard where I wanted to go. So . . ." He looked to Luna. "You'll have to help me. Tell me what this place is like so I can picture it."

"Wait, successfully once before?!" Jack cried. "So you've tried and it's failed?!"

"Yeah," Radley admitted.

"This time it will work," Kalin said firmly.

Luna went over to Radley. She didn't really know him; in fact, she had never met him before a few minutes ago. But he was Kalin's friend, and Kalin was part of the group, so Radley was part of the group as well.

"It's a really beautiful place, with trees and meadows and mountains," she said. "All the Duel Monsters come out and play and are at peace, and Ancient Fairy Dragon rules over them with wisdom and justice."

"That . . . doesn't sound like what was happening five minutes ago," Crow remarked.

"I know," Luna said in concern.

Radley tried to concentrate, picturing what Luna was telling him. No two people would imagine things looking exactly the same if one of them had never seen it, so he tried to supplement his mental images by telling himself it was the Duel Monsters' world over and over. And they had to get there. Something was wrong and they had to get there. The pendant had to work this time. It had to. . . .

Suddenly a white flash enveloped the entire group. When it faded, they were indeed standing in a meadow.

"You did it!" Luna exclaimed. "We're here!" She looked around. "Ancient Fairy Dragon? Regulus? Kuribon? Where are you guys?!"

Radley felt faint. Just teleporting himself had winded him last time, and now he had brought a whole group. He held a hand to his forehead.

Kalin caught him as he fell backwards. "Radley!"

Yusei looked over with a start. "Is he okay?!"

"I'll be fine," Radley mumbled. "I've just . . . never done this before." He slumped into Kalin's arms, to most everyone's alarm.

"How did you do it at all?!" Jack demanded, ignoring the fact that Radley had passed out. "Will someone please tell me what's going on here?!"

"Radley's pendant is a magical object," Kalin explained. "But using it comes with a price, apparently." He frowned.

Akiza frowned too. She could certainly sympathize with that. "How is he?" she asked.

Kalin balanced Radley with one arm while checking his pulse. "I think he's okay," he said. "Just drained."

"Well, so what's up with this place?" Leo said worriedly. "I don't see anyone!"

A demonic laugh echoed off the trees, chilling everyone present. Antinomy tensed, stepping in front of Yusei. "Who's there?!"

Everyone stared as a bizarre man none of them had ever seen before stepped out from the trees. His wild blond hair stuck out at every angle possible, and his tanned face was twisted in the most grotesque expression possible. He regarded the group with sick satisfaction. "Well, so you're all here. I wasn't expecting you to see through the charade with Ancient Fairy Dragon, but I did expect you to find a way here when you did!"

"Who are you?!" Luna cried.

Yusei narrowed his eyes. "You must be the ‘evil being' who broke Lawton out of The Facility."

"Guilty as charged!" the being said in delight. "And I took control of Ancient Fairy Dragon to try to get you here!"

"So why did you want us to come?" Kalin coolly asked. He was still holding on to Radley, who still looked very pale from the massive teleportation. "I can't believe Lawton would have wanted it."

"He does want his revenge on you and Yusei Fudo, but I'm the one who's really in charge," the being bragged. "And I just wanted to torture people again. It's been such a long time since I've been free to do it. Zero Reverse didn't just release the power of the Dark Signers; it also released me from the Shadow Realm! For years I've been observing all the chaos Zero Reverse has brought to your world. Now that everything has been peaceful and happy, I decided it was finally time to act."

". . . What's the Shadow Realm?!" Luna asked.

"I don't know, but it sounds scary!" Leo exclaimed.

"All of you are the protectors of this world," the being sneered, "so what better tragedy than getting all of you here and having you killed by our mind-controlled Duel Monsters?! Then Lawton has his revenge and you won't be around to stop our takeover of either this world or yours!"

"You're crazy if you think we're going to roll over and die!" Jack snapped. He lunged. "We're taking you down here and now!"

"Jack, wait!" Yusei exclaimed.

But it was no use. Jack delivered a harsh punch and the being went flying backwards. But instead of being infuriated, he only laughed. "Yes! Give me your anger! I want it!" His face twisted again and veins popped out. "It makes me stronger."

". . . Okay, there is something seriously wrong with this guy," Crow said, taking a step back.

"You're only realizing this now?!" Jack shot back.

"We have to free all the poor Duel Monsters!" Luna declared. "How are they being controlled?!"

Now the being stuck out his tongue. "I won't tell you."

"Oh, seriously?!" Crow exclaimed. "Are you 16 or 6?!"

Kalin had been studying him for quite some time. Finally he said, "You look familiar in some way. You remind me of someone I met named Marik Ishtar."

"Oh?" The being looked to him. "Then if you follow that thought, you might find some answers!" He leaped backwards into the trees. "I won't give you any."

"I thought you wanted to kill us all," Jack spat.

"You'll all die," was the gleeful reply. "I'll be watching when the angry dragons and lions tear you apart." Then, cackling madly, he vanished.


	2. Think of Us and We'll Be There

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In my Pendulum Swings verse for YGO Classic, the Big Five and Yami Bakura are all good guys. They had some very long, character-developing arcs to get them to where they are now.

For a long moment, the group stood in stunned shock over what had just happened.

Luna was the first to shake herself out of her daze. "This is awful!" she cried.

Leo trembled. "We can't get torn apart by wild Duel Monsters!" he whimpered.

"We're not going to," Antinomy growled.

Radley had finally recovered enough to stumble to his feet and move away from Kalin, but he looked sickened. "This is happening because I brought us all here," he said in dismay.

"We had to know what was happening," Yusei told him. "We would have got here sooner or later. It's not your fault. The only question is, now that we're here, what are we gonna do?" He looked to Kalin. "I remember Marik Ishtar. I saw him at that Christmas party we went to in that other world."

Kalin nodded. "They have some kind of device that lets them open portals to other times and dimensions. If we could reach out to them, maybe they could tell us something about that being and how to beat him."

Radley took his pendant in his hand. "I . . . don't know that I can use this again right now. . . ."

"No, you shouldn't," Kalin agreed. "I don't want to think what might happen if you overtax your body too much. But if you're not the designated keeper of that item, maybe I could take it and just send myself there to get help."

"Siegfried von Schroeder used it," Radley said. He undid the clasp and handed it to Kalin. "I'm sure you can too."

Kalin smiled. "I won't be long."

"You'd better not be," Leo quavered. "We probably don't have long!"

Kalin held the pendant in his clenched fist and concentrated. He thought of Démas Lector's home, where he had stayed when he had gone to that place or time. When there was a sudden white flash and an ensuing exclamation of utter shock, he opened his eyes. He had landed right in the dining room, and all of the Big Five were having breakfast.

A fork clattered to Lector's plate. "Mr. Kessler?!" He leaped up. "Are you alright?! What on Earth is happening?!"

The other four were likewise staring. "Do you know how worried Lector's been about you?!" Crump exclaimed. "He's wanted several times to go looking for you through the portal, but we had no idea where to look! And now you suddenly pop in here like nothing's happened?!"

Kalin sighed. "A lot has happened," he said. "I'm so sorry I worried you." He looked to Lector. "I've been rebuilding a town I ended up in and there hasn't been much free time. And now the person who demolished that town was set free from prison by some kind of evil magical being that looks like Marik Ishtar."

Silence.

"WHAAAT?!" Crump yelled.

"We're all in the Duel Monsters world and we discovered they're mind-controlling the Duel Monsters and trying to take over the realm," Kalin continued. "Our world will be next. I wondered if you can tell me anything about this being and how to defeat him."

"We can unfortunately tell you a great deal," Johnson said. "It has to be Yami Marik."

Nesbitt scowled. "I knew it was too much to hope that he would never get out again!"

"We would be happy to tell you what you could do," Lector said, "but I and I'm certain others of us would like to come over and help you. Yami Marik is a very difficult problem for those who know him. I hate to think of you going up against him when you're unfamiliar with his evil."

Kalin looked down at the pendant, deeply humbled. "Thank you," he said quietly. "Everyone is in danger right now, though. I'm not sure how long they can wait for us to get back. And this pendant seems to drain anyone who tries to use it." He felt light-headed just from sending himself. If he tried to get back with a group, he would probably black out as Radley had done.

"I will call Yugi right now and see if he and Atem can come over immediately with the candle-holder," Lector said. He took out his phone and dialed. "And may I ask, Mr. Kessler, you seem different. Are you still bent on punishing yourself?"

Kalin smiled. "No, I'm not. I finally found peace and a new purpose. I fight to protect my friends and anyone else when they're unjustly harmed."

Lector smiled too. "I am so very glad."

"I am too," Kalin said. "I'm sorry I wasn't in any state to listen when you and the others tried to help me."

"I understand how it is," Nesbitt said. "None of us blame you. You weren't well."

"No, I wasn't," Kalin said. "But thank you."

Yugi came on the line and Lector swiftly turned his attention to the call. It was quick and positive. Yugi and Atem would leave right then with the candle-holder and collect some of the others to help on their quest. They would arrive within a few minutes.

"Thank you so much," Kalin said in amazement and relief.

"You are our friend," Lector told him firmly, "and we don't want you or anyone in your world to suffer. Would you like to have some breakfast while we wait?"

Kalin was about to say No, not liking the thought of eating while the others were going through who knew what back there. But on the other hand, eating would keep his strength up for whatever might happen. He would be better able to help them if he wasn't starving, so it might be practical not to refuse. "Yes, thank you," he said. He slipped the pendant in his pocket and went to wash his hands.

When he came back and started dishing up food, it was Lector who spoke first. "Forgive me, but what was that pendant you used to get here?" he asked. "It looked so familiar."

"It belongs to a friend of mine, Radley Ramon," Kalin replied.

Nesbitt gawked. "Radley?!"

". . . You know him?" Kalin said in surprise. Then it dawned. "Of course. . . . He told me he'd ended up someplace where the people were very nice. He was here!"

"He most certainly was," Lector said. "It was because of his pendant that we were able to stop Ragnarok."

Kalin raised an eyebrow. "He didn't mention that part of it."

"Apparently it was a fail-safe created to stop a set of evil Scandinavian magical items," Gansley said.

"Yeah, these renegade Vikings tried to use them to blow up the world, and Siegfried von Schroeder had to use Radley's pendant to purify the items and stop it!" Crump said.

"So that's what he meant by that," Kalin mused.

"How do you know Radley?" Nesbitt asked.

"I met him when I was wandering, trying to punish myself," Kalin said. "It's a long story."

Before he had time to tell it, the group arrived. "We're here!" Yugi called as the maid, Helena, let them in.

The Big Five and Kalin all looked up. They were just finishing their meal and were ready to leave. Yugi had arrived with Atem, Solomon, Téa, Joey, Tristan, the Ishtars, the Bakuras, and the Kaibas. Atem was holding the candle-holder Kalin remembered seeing get used before.

"Thank you, all of you, for coming," he said as he got up from the table. "It isn't your world in danger."

"Well, it is if it's our future, but even if it's another dimension, we want to help," Yugi smiled. "We always come when our friends need us."

Atem concentrated and soon opened a portal in space. "Let's go."

Kalin marveled at how quickly the task was accomplished compared to using Radley's pendant. Perhaps it was just that Atem was so much more used to using magic, or maybe the candle-holder really wasn't as stubborn an item.

Everyone quickly began going through the portal.

"Man, I hope Serenity doesn't decide to come," Joey lamented. "She's over with Duke today and I . . . kind of didn't tell them about this. Or Mai either."

"They wouldn't have a way over there without the candle-holder," Tristan pointed out.

"That doesn't mean they wouldn't try!" Joey retorted. "They could get as far as Kalin's world, at least! The portal's still open."

Kalin looked to Tristan. "Are you feeling better about yourself?" he asked. "The last time I saw you, you weren't doing so well."

"Yeah, I'm okay," Tristan said. "I still hate what happened when that freak controlled me, but I'm trying to move past it."

"Good," Kalin said in approval. "You never fell as far as I did."

"You seem like you're doing better too, man," Joey commented.

"I am," Kalin smiled.

"And we are all very glad to hear it," Solomon said.

They successfully crossed into the Duel Monsters' world and Atem sealed the portal after them. To their collective relief, everyone was still there and relatively safe. Radley had sank down on a large rock, still shaky.

"Radley?!" everyone except the Big Five exclaimed.

Radley jumped. "Hey, so it really was that place," he said. "Hello, everyone."

Kalin handed the pendant back to him. "How are you?" he asked in concern.

"I'm okay," Radley insisted. He put the pendant back on. "We just thought we should wait here for you, if we could."

"Yeah, it's kind of weird nothing's attacked us yet," Leo gulped. "Not that I'm complaining!"

"Luna! Leo!" Mokuba waved, happy to see his friends again.

Luna beamed. "Mokuba!"

"It's great to see you again!" Leo exclaimed.

Greetings were exchanged all around and Yusei introduced Antinomy. Then they got down to business and Marik and his siblings told the horrible truth about Yami Marik.

Crow gawked. "So . . . that thing started as a split personality of yours and then split off altogether as its own thing?! That's . . . creepy."

Leo was aghast. Luna sighed and laid a hand on his shoulder, but she was clearly unsettled too.

"I know," Marik sighed. "It doesn't make much sense. It's disturbing that something I created in my fear and anger and hatred could develop that much of a sense of self. I regret every day that I gave him life. But at least whatever he does now is his own idea, not mine. I am not responsible for what he thinks."

"No, just that he thinks at all," Jack scowled.

Antinomy stepped forward before an argument could break out. "So how do we defeat him?"

"Well, usually it involves bombarding him with light," Crump said. "Anything dark makes him stronger. He likes to try to get us to hate him because of that."

"And there's also freeing the Duel Monsters and stopping Lawton," Luna said. "We still don't know what was done to them or how to save them!"

"Well, what do we have here," a mocking voice drawled.

Everyone started. Lawton had just drove up in a Fortune Chariot. He sneered at the group.

Joey stared at him. "What the heck?! Why do you talk like John Wayne?!"

"He thinks the irony is hilarious," Radley flatly informed him. "Unfortunately, this is Lawton. I'm not sure he even remembers what his own voice sounds like."

Joey scowled. "Another weird bad guy. That's just great."

Lawton leaned forward. "Do my eyes deceive me?" He jumped out of the chariot and went over to Radley. "You've got this broken-down loser with you?" He grabbed Radley around the throat, to everyone's shock and indignation. "I heard you were dead."

Radley shoved him back. "I'm not."

"You look halfway there," Lawton grinned. "Business not treating you well since you went straight?"

"Eh?!" Joey frowned. "What are you talking about?!"

Lawton looked over at him. "Oh, didn't he tell you? He used to participate in arranging duels to determine who got slave labor for the mines, him or my brother Malcolm."

"WHAT?!" Joey burst out. "I knew there was something I didn't like about you! So you were lying to us when you told us what you did for a living!"

"No, I wasn't!" Radley struggled to stand. "I just . . . didn't tell the whole truth. But I didn't treat my labor like slaves. Malcolm did, I'll admit, but I never knew that for a surety until I got sent there myself." He sighed. "It doesn't make what I did right. I know that. I have paid for what I did wrong and I've been trying to make good. Still, I understand if you can't forgive it, Joey. If . . . none of you can forgive it." He looked to everyone who had come over with Kalin. Joey and Tristan both looked away, but some of the others gave him encouraging looks.

"Radley did die," Kalin spoke up. "He was killed trying to save the life of a father who was badly hurt in a fall in the mine. He's a good person who lost his way for a while, as I did. He deserves another chance."

"Well . . ." Joey backed off, not sure what to say to that.

"Isn't that touching," Lawton mocked. "So, now that I've stirred up a little distrust among you, I'll tell you that none of you are going to be able to stop me. Do you wanna know why?"

"Humor us," Atem said, his tone clipped.

"Because I have every Duel Monster in this land under my control," Lawton bragged. "And to get to me, you'll have to go through not only them, but my human subordinates who came over with me. I can promise all of you, that's not going to happen." He leaped back in the Fortune Chariot and snapped the reins. It started to lift into the sky.

"You're a fool, you know," Marik spoke up. "That evil being who gave you your power just wants to see a bloodbath! Eventually he'll want you dead too!"

"Oh, I know," Lawton said smoothly. "I'll take care of him sooner or later. Right now, however, this is all about getting revenge on Yusei and Kalin. And if I can take the rest of you out at the same time, so much the better!"

"You're taking over an entire world just to get at us?!" Yusei said in disbelief.

"Not just to get at you," Lawton said. "I like having absolute power. But when my absolute power causes pain and suffering for you, and your downfalls, that makes it all the sweeter."

"You big jerk!" Joey yelled. He ran forward until he was under Fortune Chariot, shaking his fist at it the entire time. "You're gonna regret this! We're gonna take you down so hard you won't know what hit you!"

"Why do you think taking over the Duel Monsters' world is the perfect revenge against us?" Kalin had to ask.

"Isn't it?" Lawton sneered. "You both love that game so much. Now I'm ruining it for you. You and your friends will probably all be killed by the monsters you love and cherish. And if not, I'll personally take you all down when you reach me at the castle." The chariot rose higher and he rode off laughing.

". . . The scary thing is, he's probably got a point," Tristan said. "About Duel Monsters being a good revenge, I mean."

"It is," Yusei agreed. "Although harming our human loved ones would be just as bad a revenge or worse." He clenched a fist. He was not going to see anything happen to Antinomy again, or any of them if he could help it.

"Well, it looks like we've got no choice," Crow said. "We're gonna havta go through all those Duel Monsters and whoever he's got with him to get to him and to whatever he's using to take over this place."

"Yeah, and just how are we going to go through them if all of them are being controlled?!" Téa exclaimed. "In the past, we've always had some good Duel Monsters to help us!"

"We could . . . go back to our Duel Monsters' world and get some help from there?" Joey suggested.

"But what if they just fall under the control too if they're brought here?" Luna worried. "Before, there was a curse over the whole land that only affected Duel Monsters."

"Unfortunately, that might very well happen again. I would say that we had best try to avoid any and all Duel Monsters and focus on the people," Atem said. "Who does Lawton have with him?"

"Barbara and Malcolm," Luna said. "Or that's what Ancient Fairy Dragon said, but if she was under that creep Yami Marik's control, maybe it's not really true."

"Barbara's his wife and Malcolm's his brother," Yusei said. "It would make sense for them to be with him."

Crow frowned. "Would Malcolm really work with him again after Lawton and Barbara totally tricked him and cut him off?"

"If the alternative was The Facility, he might," Kalin said. "We need to figure out where they might be waiting for us. Luna, do you know the basic layout of this world?"

Luna bit her lip. "Um . . . I know some things, but not where everything is," she said slowly. "There's some villages, some woods, some mountains. . . ."

"Pretty much every kind of land type is here somewhere," Leo added.

"So it's like Duelist Kingdom," Atem mused.

"I'm so worried about Ancient Fairy Dragon and Regulus and Kuribon," Luna lamented. "Sunlight Unicorn and all my other monsters too."

"Hey, we're going to save them," Yugi smiled at her. "That's a promise."

Luna smiled back. "I know. I just hope it won't take a really long time. I don't like thinking of them being controlled."

"I suppose all we can do is start walking," Bakura said, "and try to defend ourselves against whatever comes up while not hurting the Duel Monsters if we can avoid it."

"Pretty much," Crow said.

"And we should stay together, at least for now," Gansley added. "We don't know what we're going to run into."

"If this is anything like when Zeman the Ape King took over the Duel Monsters' world, his power controlled everything in the land and the only way to stop it was to beat him," Luna remembered. "Maybe it's the same now with Lawton."

"We've beat Lawton before," Yusei said. "We can do it again."

The group started walking. Radley, feeling awkward with the cold shoulders he seemed to be getting, moved back to talk to Solomon, who had been one of his strongest supporters before. "I guess everyone hates me now," he said with a sigh.

"Oh, I don't know about that," Solomon said. "Maybe Joseph and Tristan will be lukewarm for a while, but almost all of Yugi's friends are people who have made mistakes in their lives, including Joseph and Tristan. They were quite notorious in a high school gang, especially Joseph."

"And what do you think?" Radley asked.

Solomon hesitated. "I'm a bit disappointed and dismayed," he said. "But if you weren't committing cruelties like this Malcolm was, that should certainly count for something."

"Everyone should also know that I dueled for Radley and sent many people to the mines," Kalin said loudly.

"What?!" Téa cried. "Why?!"

Kalin sighed. "I wanted to lose so I would get sent there. It sounded like the perfect punishment, if I ended up in Malcolm's part of the mine."

Lector stared at him. "Oh, Mr. Kessler. . . ."

"I was sick," Kalin said. "I realize that now. Radley had no idea what I wanted, so he can't be blamed for that. But I promise you that he's telling the truth. His part of the mine wasn't cruel and heartless. Please, don't hate him for his past mistakes. If you're going to, you'll have to hate me too."

Joey frowned. "Radley wasn't mentally or emotionally struggling, though, was he?"

"No, I wasn't," Radley said.

"Then it's not the same thing," Joey said. He looked hard at Radley. "You're gonna have to prove yourself now. Me and Tristan don't know what to make of you."

"You know, Radley did save Siegfried's life," Yugi reminded him. "And he got hurt himself when he did it."

"Yeah, I guess," Tristan said.

Luna sighed. "Can't we just forgive the past and move on?"

"I don't know," Joey said. "I always felt like something was off about that guy. Now I know it wasn't my imagination."

"We're going to need to be united to take down these enemies," Atem said. "Lawton knows that, and he was deliberately trying to divide us. We mustn't let him win."

"It's kind of hard to just ignore what he told us," Tristan said. "Someday there will be someone who really is a creep and shouldn't be trusted. Maybe that's today."

Kalin looked to Radley in dismay, but Radley just sighed. "It feels different to be rejected for something I really did do wrong," he said. "It's still not enjoyable, but at least it's justified."

Kalin frowned. "Radley . . ."

The roar of a machine startled all of them to attention. A tank rumbled around a stand of trees up ahead and came to a halt in front of them. Many Duel Monsters were gathered around it from every angle, and when it stopped, so did they.

Luna gasped. "Sunlight Unicorn!"

Her unicorn just gave her a blank look, the normally kind eyes glowing bright red.

The lid of the tank opened and a sneering, middle-aged man emerged. "Well, well, what have we here," he taunted. "So this is the group of rebels Lawton told me about."

Radley stepped forward. "What is this, Malcolm?" he greeted. "Why are you still doing your baby brother's dirty work? Didn't he already more than prove that you shouldn't have anything to do with him? Or is your brain just too itty-bitty to grasp that simple concept?"

Malcolm snarled. "You crazy Spaniard," he shot back. "Looks like you still think making juvenile insults makes you look tough. I don't know what you're doing here with these people, but you're going to regret it!"

"He has a legitimate question," Kalin spoke up. "Lawton betrayed you. He betrays everyone he comes in contact with, even his wife. Why be a part of this? It can only end poorly for you."

"He'll get what's coming to him," Malcolm spat. "But meanwhile, this is better than The Facility. And if you want to keep going on your insane quest, you'll have to get past me to do it! Now, who's going to duel me?"

"I'll duel you." Atem stepped forward.

Malcolm sneered. "It's your funeral, stranger." He took out his Duel Gun and unfolded it into a Duel Disk.

". . . That is completely bizarre," Seto grunted. "Who invented something that cheesy?"

"It was developed as something to sell to the tourists in places like Crash Town," Kalin said. "But then people decided they had practical purposes."

". . . Well, it's sure portable," Mokuba blinked. "And easier to carry than a Duel Disk. . . ."

Joey looked to Radley. "So that's what that thing is you're wearing?" he asked. "I thought it was a gun."

"It's a Duel Gun," Radley said. "I've never used an actual gun in my life."

"Now, this is going to be a duel unlike any you've ever had before," Malcolm sneered to Atem. "The monsters you summon will be real, since we're playing in the Duel Monsters' world. And since Lawton is controlling this here entire world, there's no real guarantee that the monsters will still obey you!"

"What?!" Téa shrieked. "That's not fair at all!"

Atem just narrowed his eyes. "I will still believe in my cards and my monsters," he said. "They won't let me down, in spite of Lawton's control." He took out his deck. "It's time to duel!"


	3. Honor and Bravery Ruled By My Side

As Atem and Malcolm got their duel underway, the Duel Monsters surrounding Malcolm's tank began to advance on the group. None of them looked friendly. Seto pushed Mokuba behind him, his eyes narrowed.

"Sunlight Unicorn!" Luna exclaimed. "Please, you have to stop this! You know me! You know I'd never hurt you, and neither would my friends!"

The creature just continued to stare Luna down, her eyes red and without recognition.

The Big Five and Seto pooled their magic to create a protective barrier around the group. "There is nothing we can do until Lawton is stopped," Gansley grimly said.

"Yeah, and to stop Lawton we've gotta go through Malcolm," Crow exclaimed. "But it looks like Atem is already having trouble!"

Yugi looked over with a jerk. Malcolm's deck was based around X-Saber monsters, which were vicious and often hard to beat. Two of Atem's monsters had already been destroyed.

"A lot of duels have rocky starts," Yugi said. "Atem's going to win this!"

"Maybe a lot of duels have rocky starts," Antinomy said, "but do most duels include the monsters rebelling against the person trying to play them?"

Yugi flinched as Atem summoned Kuriboh in defense mode and the little furball turned and hissed at him, his eyes red. "Atem will figure this out too," he insisted. "His heart is still strongly bound to his deck and every card in it. That's stronger than Lawton's control!"

Seto grunted. "Let's just hope you're right." His eyes flickered in annoyed frustration. He really hadn't wanted to join this expedition, but when Yugi and Atem had arrived to collect the candle-holder and told of what was happening, Mokuba had been worried for his friends and wanted to join them. Seto had been reluctant, but had finally agreed on the condition that he come as well.

"Of course Yugi is right," Téa insisted. "Our bonds always come through!"

"Siegfried's bond with his Valkyries didn't fix the problem when Brunhilde was mind-controlled," Seto pointed out.

Téa had to admit she didn't have an answer for that.

Lector looked to Radley, who was watching the duel and still seemed quite dejected. "Mr. Radley . . ." He walked over to the younger man. "I am truly sorry your past had to come out the way it did, through Lawton's cruelty. We are certainly not strangers to questionable actions."

Radley slowly looked to him. "You're not going to turn against me after what was revealed?"

"Of course not," Lector insisted. "It sounds as though the situation wasn't cut-and-dry. And Mr. Kessler obviously cares about you a great deal. We met him when he was in the deepest throes of despair and self-hatred. If you are someone who makes him happy, that isn't a small thing. You can't imagine what a weight it is off my mind to see him having healed so much."

Radley smiled a bit. "I once never would have imagined that things would come to this," he admitted. "I didn't know Kalin was struggling so much and he didn't like me at all. But . . . everything changed after Yusei and the kids were finally able to help him."

"Kids?" Nesbitt grunted. "You mean the twins?"

"No, two kids who live in our town," Radley said. "They idolize Kalin and finally convinced him that he still has good in him."

"That's wonderful," Lector said.

Radley nodded. "Kalin has done wonders for the town. He's both the mayor and the sheriff, and he handles his positions very well."

"He always was a good leader," Yusei said.

"All the townspeople love him," Radley said.

"And what do they think of you?" Tristan countered.

Radley gave him an uncomfortable look.

"Radley is very well-liked in town," Kalin spoke up. "He runs the mine and hires people normally. Because he always had a reputation for being fair, people are more than willing to work for him."

"Even though he was part of a gang that helped oppress the town?" Tristan frowned.

"We weren't doing that!" Radley finally snapped in frustration. "I said before that we were fighting against the ones doing that!"

"Yeah, but how much is your word worth?" Tristan countered.

"There were people in town who aligned with one group or the other," Kalin said. "A lot of the townspeople were on Radley's side because they liked him and his group. Those with Malcolm were usually with him out of fear, although a few liked his ideas of total control."

"Well, that's creepy," Joey said.

"They're the main ones we have to watch out for in town," Kalin said. "Sooner or later they might try something."

"It must be difficult always watching them," Bakura said.

Kalin nodded. "They never hurt anyone, so they can't be thrown out just for what they think. But it would be foolish not to stay alert anyway."

Oreo wandered over to Radley. After sniffing him all over, she sat down and looked up at him. "Meow."

He looked down at her. "Hey, kitty." He petted her head and she purred.

"Was it really a good idea to bring the cat, Bakura?" Joey asked.

"Well, Father's gone again and I didn't think we should take time to run her over to the bikers'," Bakura said. "She's been on our adventures before."

"Yeah, but who knows what'll happen on this one," Tristan said.

Antinomy was giving Oreo an odd look. "A cat . . . ?"

Yusei perked up. "Do you remember something?" He couldn't keep the hope out of his voice.

"Maybe. . . . Cats . . . a sharp turn in the road. . . ." Antinomy grimaced, a hand going to his forehead.

"I don't remember anything about cats, except Mina saying Bruno was allergic to Trudge's cat," Jack said.

"Trudge has a cat?!" Tristan said in disbelief.

"Oh yeah, he's a big softie," Crow said.

"That's a weird picture," Joey declared.

"Maybe the cat Bruno is talking about is something we never knew about," Luna suggested.

"Bruno doesn't seem allergic to this cat," Leo said. "Even though she's making him act all weird."

Finally Antinomy straightened and turned away. "I don't remember," he said brusquely.

Yusei sighed.

Akiza gave him a sympathetic look. "I'm sure he'll remember in time, Yusei."

"I hope so," Yusei said.

"Yeah, without his memories he's not really like himself," Crow said. "He's not even fully like the Antinomy part of his personality."

Téa watched them with a sad sigh. "I wish there was something I could do to help. . . ."

"Speaking from experience, I believe they're all doing the best thing they can by just being there for their dear friend," Lector said. "I'm sure Mr. Antinomy will recover his memories in time."

"Maybe," Nesbitt grunted. "They probably weren't magically blocked, like mine were."

"Actually . . ." Yusei frowned. "Bruno's memories were magically blocked before, I think. Aporia thought Z-one deliberately took his memories."

He received multiple blank stares. "Why?!" Mokuba gasped.

"It's . . . a really long story," Yusei said, suddenly realizing they had no idea about Z-one or any of that mess. "Anyway, the point is, maybe it's not so far-fetched. But would it have happened a second time?!"

"There's so many things we don't know about Antinomy right now," Kalin said. "But from everything you told me, I'd doubt Z-one did anything a second time. And Z-one couldn't have made him come back as a human instead of an android."

"Actually, who could do that?" Akiza wondered.

While everyone fell to pondering over that, the duel outside the barrier continued. Atem was still struggling with both Malcolm's vicious monsters and getting his own to cooperate. And Malcolm, much like Arkana in the past, had no compassion or respect for his monsters. He discarded them easily and wasn't above using cards such as Ectoplasm to deal damage to Atem. When the monsters were real, it was even more disturbing.

"You don't duel with honor," Atem said in disappointed disgust.

"Dueling is all about winning," Malcolm countered, "and overwhelming your opponent with raw strength and fear. How you get there doesn't matter. Anyway, these are legitimate cards!"

"That may be so, but don't you see how cruel it is to use them?!" Atem exclaimed. "We're in the Duel Monsters' world! As you yourself said, the monsters are real! You are literally sacrificing real creatures just to deal extra damage to me!"

Malcolm laughed. "And I'm doing a good job of it too! You're almost done for and you haven't managed to damage me at all! Your monsters aren't responding to you no matter how much respect you give them! Lawton's control is too strong!"

"I still have faith," Atem insisted.

"That's the problem with people like you," Malcolm jeered. "You're always so idealistic! Life never works out in favor of that kind of silly attitude. Only the strong and the tough survive."

"We shall see," Atem said. He drew his next card and his eyes glinted.

"Look at Atem!" Joey suddenly exclaimed. "Aww yeah, I know that look! He's figured out how to turn things around!"

"I knew he would!" Yugi beamed.

Malcolm was sneering, oblivious to Atem's imminent triumph. "I don't know who you are or where Kalin dredged you up, but by now even you can see you won't last much longer," he taunted. "Whatever you drew won't save you! Your monsters just won't help you while Lawton is controlling them, making them easy prey for every one of mine!"

"That may be so, but there's one monster I know won't be affected by his spell," Atem replied. "I give up half my remaining lifepoints to play Dark Magic Curtain and summon the Dark Magician!"

Even Malcolm had to stare in a bit of awe as the famous monster appeared. In his era the Dark Magician wasn't used as much, but the stories about it were legendary. "So that's the fabled Dark Magician," he gasped.

Yusei looked just as impressed. "I've only seen that card played once before," he said.

Antinomy looked to him. "Who played it?"

"He did." Yusei nodded to Atem. "We met a while back, when someone was trying to erase Duel Monsters from history. It's . . . another long story."

"Well, regardless, what makes him think that monster won't be under the spell too?!" Jack scoffed.

Yami Bakura folded his arms. "Because the Pharaoh's copy of that card is more than just a Duel Monster. It's a human soul."

As the Dark Magician fully appeared, he held a hand to his forehead and grimaced. The spell was definitely trying to get hold of him, but he still had enough self-awareness to fight it. "My Pharaoh . . ." he rasped. "I will try to lead you to victory in this fight."

"I know you will, my old friend," Atem smiled. "I have two magic cards to further set the stage for this attack. A Thousand Knives destroys your monster, Malcolm!"

"No!" Malcolm yelled.

"And Dark Magic Attack eliminates all the magic and trap cards on your side of the field!" Atem continued.

Malcolm stared in horror as all his other cards exploded in a burst of magic. ". . . I'll still have lifepoints after this assault," he said.

"I'm afraid not," Atem replied. "Not once I equip Power of the Guardians and Mage Power. Together, their combined powers add 1500 attack points to my Dark Magician. And that makes exactly enough to take you down."

Malcolm slumped over his tank in defeat as the Dark Magician wiped out his lifepoints. "I can't believe it," he said in despair. "I lost. . . ."

Atem leaped onto the tank, grabbing the man's vest from behind. "And now, you are going to come with us," he said.

"What?!" Malcolm went stiff. "What in tarnation for?!"

"You have valuable information about this world and what we're going to experience," Atem said. "We need that information. And if you're our prisoner, you won't dare steer us wrong, for then you will be in danger as well!"

"I'm not going to go!" Malcolm spat. "Duel Monsters, help me!" He kicked and flailed.

Sunlight Unicorn glowered at Atem and started to charge, her horn bared.

"Sunlight Unicorn!" Luna screamed. "No!"

The beast wavered, looking back over her shoulder. As she did, Atem leaped down and pulled Malcolm with him through the protective barrier. The Dark Magician followed.

"I knew Sunlight Unicorn couldn't really attack someone if it wasn't a duel," Luna said. "I started to break through to her! I know I did!"

"She still looks mad to me, Sis," Leo gulped.

"No, I think Luna is right." Akiza went over to the barrier and rested her hand against it. "Sunlight Unicorn is just standing there now, watching us. Her eyes are still red, but they're flickering. Luna did start to break through!"

"So what can we do?" Crow wondered. "Should we keep moving or should we stay here and try to break the control some more?"

". . . As long as I'm here, they'll keep following you wherever you go," Malcolm told them.

"Then we should keep going," Yugi said. "Maybe we can break the control on the way!"

"But man, I don't know about this," Joey frowned. "Do we really wanna take this creep with us?!" His hands went to his hips. "He really was using slave labor in the mines."

"Not just that, he was being brutal," Radley said darkly. "All of his guards used whips and shock collars."

"Why, you . . . !" Joey looked to Malcolm with flashing eyes and a clenched fist.

Undaunted, Malcolm just glared right back. "Well, I had to keep them in line somehow!"

"I kept my labor ‘in line' without harming one hair on their heads," Radley said smoothly. "And unlike yours, mine never tried to escape."

Malcolm smoldered. From his expression, he wanted to sock Radley in the face, or worse.

"Well, you're sure proud of what you did," Tristan remarked.

"I'm proud of how I did it," Radley said. "And obviously my method was the best and most logical."

"I think you're both jerks," Joey snapped.

"Radley's just trying to get a rise out of Malcolm," Kalin said flatly. "It's how they interact. Although surely you have to agree that he's right about his method being better."

"Well . . ." Joey scowled, but didn't further argue the point. He couldn't.

"Has anyone got some rope?" Atem asked, deciding it was prudent to change the subject.

Yami Bakura smirked. "Here." He handed over a large coil of rope.

". . . Do I really want to know why you had that?" Tristan frowned.

"It's a logical thing to bring when journeying to a strange land that might involve climbing . . . or tying people up," Yami Bakura sneered.

". . . I hate when you make sense," Tristan scowled.

Atem wrapped the rope around Malcolm's torso, binding his arms to his sides. "Alright," he said as he tied the ends fast. "Now, tell us where we have to go next."

Malcolm silently raged at the ground. "Straight ahead," he grudgingly answered at last. "We have to scale that hill and go into the forest."

"That's where Regulus lives!" Luna exclaimed.

"Okay, who's Regulus?" Joey frowned.

"He serves Ancient Fairy Dragon," Luna said. "He's a lion."

"Oh my," Bakura said.

". . . I've gotta ask," Joey said. "Are there any Duel Monsters here we know?!"

"Torunka should be here somewhere," Luna said. "He's a Dark Sage." She looked around worriedly. "If he's really under this spell too . . ."

". . . Maybe he wouldn't be, since he's the old guy version of the Dark Magician?" Crow suggested.

Atem sighed. "My Dark Magician is quite unique, though," he said.

"Yeah, Yami Bakura said he has a human soul?!" Crow stared. "How'd that happen?!"

Yami Bakura and the Dark Magician exchanged a long, uncomfortable look. ". . . It's a long story," they both said in unison.

". . . Maybe we'll talk about it on our way to the hill," Atem said. He frowned at Malcolm. "When we get there, what are we going to find?"

"That Regulus kitty-cat, probably," Malcolm replied. "And several of my men. While they were at it, Lawton busted out my Crewmembers too. Lawton wanted plenty of help to take over a whole world."

"Including the men who tortured people in the mines?" Kalin gave him a dark look.

". . . Yes," Malcolm said.

"Why are they with Regulus?!" Luna cried. "Are they hurting him?!"

"No, but he's likely to hurt you!" Malcolm retorted.

"Well, let's just hope that your presence there will be enough to make them rethink that," Kalin said.

Atem nodded. "Let's go, everyone." He pushed Malcolm ahead of him as they started walking.

Still worried, Luna followed close behind them. "Do you know where Ancient Fairy Dragon is?!" she demanded.

"She's not around here," Malcolm insisted. "She's closer to the castle. She's probably going to be the final barrier between you and Lawton."

"What castle?" Yusei frowned.

"I don't know! Just a castle! Some old broken-down thing," Malcolm said. "Lawton was gonna have it fixed up."

". . . It's probably where Zeman the Ape King ruled," Luna realized. "It was a mess when we left it!"

"What about the evil being who set you all free?" Marik spoke up. "Where's he?"

"Darned if I know," Malcolm snorted. "He just dumped us all here and wandered off to go do something. Torture people, probably. I really wish Lawton hadn't got in with him. It's a deal with the devil. I just know it!"

"How right you are," Marik sighed.

"And yet you're such an expert at torturing people," Radley said, bringing a hand to his throat in emphasis. "Isn't it more like a match made in Hell?"

Crump snorted. "He's got ya there."

Malcolm just scowled. "Oh shut up, you rat," he muttered.

****

Unbeknownst to all of them, they were being observed. Lawton had indeed settled in Zeman's old castle and was watching the feed through the magic screen in the floor of the throne room. "Heh," he sneered. "Radley always did beat you at wit, elder brother."

But at the same time, he was annoyed. Malcolm had been defeated far too soon, and he hadn't expected the group to take the man prisoner. Now Malcolm would be forced to take them to all the places they had to go, and Lawton wasn't ready. It should be some time before they got here, but just in case things would keep moving too fast, Lawton needed to pick up the pace more as well.

"Where are you pixies?" he frowned, looking around the darkened room. It was going to take a lot of work to get this castle properly livable again. And he didn't have time to do it himself. Anyway, he wanted it done faster than he could do it on his own.

The Fortune Fairies finally appeared from all cracks and crevices in the room, their eyes red like the other Duel Monsters. Two of them warbled their questions to him.

"I want all of you to make this castle as good as new again," Lawton told them. "Call on the magicians if you have to, but get it fixed and get it fixed soon!"

The Fairies chirped in response. Ann swirled her wand and the stone tablets on the wall were instantly mended.

"That's a start," Lawton said in approval. "Now keep going."

The little Fairies flitted about, repairing the damage all around him as he started down the hall. He was soon lost in thought.

He had always believed in working with the hand you were dealt in life. He and Malcolm had risen out of poverty because of Lawton's skillful handling of their situation then, and Lawton had continued to approach all situations as a realist, finding the best way out of them—as far as he was concerned. Sometimes that meant literally blowing up his bridges behind him. He would prefer not to have to go that far again. But if it came down to it, he most definitely would.

He paused at the next window and looked out at the surrounding area with a thoughtful frown. Yes, he should definitely have some fail-safes in place for when the group actually made it this far. With Yusei and Kalin as part of the team, he knew they would never give up until they had him. And if that was their attitude, well, they would be in for a nasty little surprise. Or several of them.

"Get me the Blast Spheres," he said to Hikari when she fluttered by.

Obediently, the mind-controlled Fairy waved her wand and several Blast Spheres were teleported into the corridor. Lawton sneered as he lifted one of the red-and-silver orbs and it flexed its feet.

"Perfect," he said. "I know just where to place all of them."

He looked back out the window. It was cloudy and dark around the castle; the dark magic made it such. And with Ancient Fairy Dragon his prisoner, that only increased the gloomy essence. This world didn't like its leader held captive. Well, that was just too bad. If it couldn't handle the hand it was dealt, it would just have to be made to fall in line like everything else.

"Come and get me, Kalin," he hissed under his breath. "I'm waiting."


	4. Some Choose a Golden Path Laden with Greed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm tinkering a bit with my interpretation of the Wiki and the canon implications that Kalin may have some psychic abilities. Amber2002161 and I discussed the concept and it was due to her suggestions and ideas that I gave it another look. Kalin in my verse doesn't have all the abilities that hers has, however.

The journey towards the hill and the forest was tense. The controlled Duel Monsters did indeed follow alongside the group, every now and then trying to pass through the barrier to get Malcolm, but the magic held fast and they couldn't penetrate. Luna continued to talk to Sunlight Unicorn, desperately trying to get through to her. At times it seemed as though she might be starting to succeed, but at other times it looked like the Duel Monster was still hopelessly out of reach.

"We really need to figure out how to break through to our monsters," Lector said in concern. "We don't know how many of us are going to have to duel. And we really can't be spending time during a duel trying to get through to them."

Nesbitt grunted. "If Atem can't break through, how will any of us?"

"Exactly, gentlemen," Malcolm sneered. "None of you have any hope of winning, not unless all of you have something like this Dark Magician with the human soul!"

"Nope, he's pretty one of a kind," Crump said.

Atem had taken out his deck and was concentrating hard, trying to connect with the monsters inside it. He could feel them, but he could also feel the magic barrier around them. When he pushed against it, he still couldn't fully break through. "This magic is very strong," he said at last. "This is deeply troubling."

"Beating Lawton really is the only way to break the control?!" Luna said in dismay. "It's not like when Zeman took over and there were those Minus Staffs everywhere? Taking one away would make things go back to normal in that area."

"I've never heard of a Minus Staff," Malcolm snorted.

"Maybe it's being called something else then?" Kalin glowered at him.

Malcolm scowled at him. "I don't know."

"We really need to figure out where that evil being is," Marik said in concern. "I'm sure he wouldn't just stay still and watch everything that's happening; he'd want to be fully in on it."

"He said he'd been out since Zero Reverse, but he'd just been observing all the chaos caused by that," Yusei remembered.

Marik grimaced. "He must have loved that."

A demonic cackle brought all of them to connection. Yami Marik dropped out of a nearby tree onto the top of the barrier, gripping a strange staff in his hands.

"Oh no!" Luna exclaimed. "It is a Minus Staff!"

"Maybe in the past," Yami Marik sneered. "But now they've all been reprogrammed."

"To do what?" Nesbitt snapped. "Are they controlling the Duel Monsters?"

"Not entirely. Lawton controls all of the staffs from the castle, so defeating him is the only way to shut them all down. But yes, each one controls the monsters in certain areas. Removing one will shut off the control in a particular area, so you'll need to find and remove each one before you can duel!" Yami Marik's expression twisted in a grotesque sneer. "Only you'll probably get pulled into duels before you can!"

Atem snarled. "Then we'll have to split up to try to find them," he realized.

"I doubt our magic can sustain more than one protective barrier at a time," Gansley said in concern. "Many of us will be at the mercy of whatever is out there."

Yami Marik threw back his head and laughed. "I know! It's really quite delicious." He stayed crouched on the barrier, looking ready to spring as he peered down at the group. "And it's oh so good to see all of you again," he mocked. "I've missed making your lives a living Hell!"

Marik snarled. "Technically, aren't you supposed to be the one from this dimension?"

"Yeah," Joey added. "You wouldn't have tortured us before!"

Yami Marik just stuck out his tongue. "Are you really so sure of that?"

Joey wavered. ". . . No. . . ."

"In any case, it would seem that you are the one bearing the staff for this area," Lector remarked. "So to be safe here, we have to get it away from you."

"Yes, but how are you going to get it away from me?!" Yami Marik exclaimed in delight. He jumped down from the barrier.

"Like this!" Nesbitt reached out through the barrier, grabbing hold of the staff. Even more amused, Yami Marik held fast.

"Oh come on! It's going to be a tug of war?!" Crow slapped his forehead. "Maybe we should just duel him or something!"  
"A duel against him will likely go on for a long time and will have dire consequences," Ishizu said. "I'm afraid we don't have time."

"Well, maybe he's been locked away so long that he won't know what dueling is like these days," Crow suggested. "A Synchro Monster or two and he might be bowled over!"

"If he's really been watching everything since Zero Reverse, he knows about Synchro Monsters," Yusei said. "And there's no way he wouldn't have upgraded his deck."

"I'm afraid you're right," Marik sighed. "He always tries to be prepared for anything."

Finally Nesbitt wrenched the staff away from Yami Marik. The Duel Monsters stopped, blinking, and looked around in confusion.

"Sunlight Unicorn!" Luna exclaimed in relief.

Sunlight Unicorn trotted over to the barrier and reached through it to Luna. Now that she wasn't controlled, the barrier allowed her to pass.

Luna petted her Duel Monster. "I'm so glad you're okay. Now we need to rescue the others!"

Rishid frowned. Something didn't seem right. "Why did you let Mr. Nesbitt take the staff from you?" he demanded.

Yami Marik just jumped back, laughing. "He's very good! Now you'll have safe passage through this one area."

"And is it a particularly small area?" Marik said dryly.

"You'll find out," Yami Marik grinned. "But one of you will have to face me in a duel before this is over. I'll be waiting near the castle." With that, he was gone.

". . . Well, that was weird," Crow spoke after a moment of stunned silence.

"He never does anything truly helpful," Marik said. "There's a catch somewhere."

"We'll just have to stay alert for when the Duel Monsters fall under Lawton's control again," Atem said.

Yugi bit his lip. Sunlight Unicorn was sticking close to them now. If she suddenly fell under the control once they passed to a new area, she could seriously hurt one or more of them. But he hated to point that out when Luna was so happy to have her back for a time.

The barrier dropped and everyone jumped.

"Did we just take that down?" Crump frowned. "I don't remember doing anything to it."

"We didn't," Gansley grunted.

Nesbitt stared at the staff. "Then . . . this thing did it?!" He snarled. "Oh, that's just great! That was the catch!"

". . . Well, if the Duel Monsters are okay here, maybe we don't need the barrier anyway?" Luna said.

"But what about when we get to a new area?!" Leo exclaimed. "We won't have any protection when we're looking for the next staff!"

Lector attempted to create a new barrier and failed. "I suppose we don't have much choice," he said ruefully. "We have to advance in this world and we have to collect the staffs. If that means we can't use protective barriers, we'll have to cope with that."

"I will protect all of you all that I can," the Dark Magician said.

"Thank you, Mahad," Atem smiled.

"I'd still like to hear the story," Crow spoke up.

"There's no time for that!" Malcolm shot back. "We're almost at the hi- . . . oh no!"

Everyone followed his gaze. He was staring in horror as a large lion flew through the air, all claws bared.

"Regulus!" Luna screamed. "Oh no, we're already out of the safe area?!"

Regulus certainly didn't appear to be free of Lawton's control. He landed in the midst of the group and lashed out with his mighty claws. Seto pulled Mokuba away and hissed as they raked into his arm.

"Seto!" Mokuba screamed.

"Regulus, no!" Luna ran out in front of him, her eyes wide in fear and horror. "Please, you have to recognize me! Everyone here is a friend! Well, not that guy . . ." She indicated Malcolm. "But all the rest of us! You don't want to hurt us!"

Regulus snarled. "I serve Lord Lawton, and you're all trespassers."

"The lion talks?!" Joey shrieked.

"Oh, like that's the most concerning thing about this?!" Tristan shot back.

"Wait, what?!" Malcolm gasped. "I'm a trespasser too?!"

"You're one of the few real trespassers here," Radley dryly told him.

"But he's supposed to recognize me as a friend!" Malcolm shot back.

"I want all of you gone!" Regulus roared.

Seto was still clutching his wounded arm, his teeth clenched in pain. By now, Mokuba and Téa were both hurrying to him, fearful of the seriousness of the injury.

"Kaiba, you have to let us see!" Téa exclaimed.

Seto slowly lifted his hand, enough to show several deep and bleeding cuts. ". . . It could be worse."

"How could it be worse?!" Mokuba wailed. "Seto, you're really hurt!"

Seto just grunted, and Téa recognized what he wasn't saying. It would be worse if it was Mokuba hurt.

Lector was coming over now, his eyes narrowed in concern. "Let me help you, Mr. Kaiba. I'm afraid this is all we've got, though. . . ." He took out a small first aid kit.

Reluctantly, Seto held out his arm. Lector took it, holding a clean cloth to the wounds as he elevated Seto's arm in an attempt to stop the bleeding. As he worked, he couldn't help but catch sight of the scars from other, older injuries along Seto's arm, and a chill went up his spine. Seto had shown them to him before when trying to impress upon him what Gozaburo had really been like. Lector's stomach twisted. It was still hard for him to grasp that Gozaburo had been capable of such horrific child abuse. But he and Seto had come far enough that he knew Seto wouldn't lie about this.

Mokuba looked to the Dark Magician. "Don't you know any healing spells or something?!"

"I can't completely make injuries go away," the Dark Magician said. "I can take the sting off."

"Well, do that, at least!" Mokuba exclaimed.

The Dark Magician complied, sending out a white orb that was absorbed into Seto's arm. Seto relaxed as the worst of the pain left him. Mokuba and Téa relaxed a bit as well.

Some of the others were starting to spread out, desperately looking for the staff that controlled this section of the Duel Monsters' world. Luna remained behind, still frantically trying to get through to Regulus . . . and to keep him from attacking any of the others.

Malcolm, too, was still there, and bound as he was, he knew he wouldn't be able to run far if he tried. He certainly couldn't outrun a vicious lion. So instead he was looking up to the skies and frantically calling. "Lawton! I know full well you can hear me! What is this?! What do you mean by having this creature come after everyone here, including me?!"

"Sorry, elder brother," came Lawton's smooth voice. Everyone stopped and stared, looking around the area. Lawton was nowhere in sight, but his voice was being projected everywhere. "You see, now that you've been caught, you're a liability, especially if you're going to tell them everything."

"You want them to come to you, don't you?!" Malcolm retorted.

"Yes, but not until I'm ready. And I really only wanted Kalin and Yusei to come. You're bringing the whole lot of them."

Kalin stepped forward. "Where are you?" he demanded. "How are you doing this?"

"Why, it's magic, of course," Lawton sneered. "I should have looked into using magic before. It's really tremendously useful." The sky rippled and suddenly Lawton appeared, cruelly smirking at everyone there.

Joey yelped. "What the heck?!"

"Well, that's freaky!" Crow declared.

"It's the magic screen!" Luna exclaimed. "There's a magic screen in the floor at Zeman's old castle. It can also project images into the sky!"

Regulus had come to attention when Lawton appeared. "What is your next command, my lord?" he asked.

"Well, it looks like you've already done some damage there," Lawton remarked, eyeing the scene with Seto and Lector.

"I can rip them all apart, if you so desire," Regulus said.

"Have mercy!" Malcolm screamed. "Lawton, you wouldn't really let him do that to me!"

"No!" Luna burst out. "Please, you have to let Regulus go free! He would never want to hurt us!"

"He definitely wants to right now," Radley said. He was tense, ready to pull the twins to him in an instant to try to protect them from the rampaging beast.

"I won't let any of them go free," Lawton insisted.

"What if I duel you right now?" Kalin said.

Radley started. "Are you loco?! How can you duel him from here?!"

"We can see him," Kalin said. "It's safe to say he can see us too."

"Hmm." Lawton looked first surprised, then thoughtful. "So if you win, I release Regulus and the other Duel Monsters in that area from my control?" His eyes glinted. "That would mean that if I win, I let Regulus do what a wild animal does best."

"But if Kalin wins, won't that break your control over everything?!" Malcolm said in disbelief. "You never want to risk anything if you don't have a good guarantee of victory!"

"I know. And I won't be risking much." Lawton sneered. "I have to be defeated in person to break the spell over the whole world.

"Alright, Kalin, I'll duel you. Right here, right now."

Kalin unfolded his Duel Gun and grabbed his deck. "Then let's go."

Yusei was among those who had gone off in search of the area's staff. He could also see Lawton from his position and hear Lawton's side of the conversation. He stared. "What the . . . ?! Kalin's going to duel Lawton like this?!"

"He'll be fine," Antinomy told him. "But if we can find the staff, the duel can stop."

Yusei nodded. "Then let's keep looking. It sounds like the Duel Monsters will all be held at bay during the duel, so we can look around without them attacking us."

"Good!" Jack huffed, and stormed off ahead with Yami Bakura and Oreo.

Antinomy sighed and turned his attention to the task at hand.

Yusei did as well. It was good to have something to put his mind to; otherwise he might become wrapped up in worrying about Kalin taking on Lawton all by himself. At least it sounded like real damage couldn't be dealt under the current conditions, or he certainly hoped so. 

He also worried about Antinomy, or Bruno, as the man was still Bruno to him. He had never shown any indication of any of his memories coming back, but Yusei still wanted to believe it could and would happen. He and the others had tried everything they could think of to help him remember, including having him work on their Duel Runners and Duel Boards and having duels, but nothing had worked. By now it looked like all they could do was take a "wait and see and be there for him" approach. Hopefully Bruno's lack of memories wouldn't end up being a grave problem during this mess.

It was impossible not to keep glancing up at Lawton's side of the duel as it progressed. Both he and Kalin were fighting with all their might, as was to be expected. It wasn't really a surprise when Yusei and Antinomy circled the area without success and came back to the others in time to see Kalin having equipped Infernity Doom Slinger with powerful equip cards that gave him attack points.

"So," he said, "it looks like it comes down to this monster again."

Lawton scowled. Kalin had already bowled over his cards; there was nothing he could do to stop this attack. "Maybe you're winning this battle, but it's not the war," he said. "You won't win when you get here." 

"We'll see about that," Kalin replied, and delivered the final blow.

To Lawton's shock, the blow really hit too. He felt it right between his eyes as he was propelled backwards halfway across the throne room. For a long moment he lay dazed, and the magic screen's effect faded from the sky.

Radley relaxed. He had been concerned for Kalin, but he was safe and well, and seeing Lawton's defeat had been thoroughly satisfying. Although . . . how had Lawton felt the damage from this distance? He looked to Kalin with a raised eyebrow, but Kalin didn't comment.

No one else seemed to have noticed anything odd.

"Alright!" Joey exclaimed. "You did it! Does that mean the Duel Monsters here are free?!"

"Yes." Regulus shook his mane. "At least in this sector. Luna, I am so sorry for everything. Is that boy alright?"

Luna looked to Seto. By now Lector had the wound bandaged and Seto was resting on a log. "I think so," she said. "I'm so glad you're yourself again, Regulus! I've been so worried."

"I'm worried for Ancient Fairy Dragon," Regulus said. "She is being held close to the old castle, and there isn't a reprogrammed Minus Staff controlling her. She's close enough to the castle that she's under the direct effect of what Lawton is using to control this entire world. Only defeating him in person will break that effect."

"Do you know what he's using?" Yugi asked.

Regulus sighed. "It must be the forbidden magic." He sat down and the group gathered around to hear the tale. "Long ago, an evil wizard wanted to control this realm and spent years learning about the dark arts in order to create a magical object that would enable him to do so."

Joey trembled. "Seriously?!"

Leo looked freaked out as well. "What happened?!" he gasped.

"Ancient Fairy Dragon led all the good Duel Monsters against him and he was stopped," Regulus said. "But he left a curse on the object with his dying breath. His essence would remain with it and it could not be destroyed unless it was purified."

"Again with purifying evil objects?" Radley scowled. "How were they going to do that?"

"They didn't know," Regulus said. "They never knew. They locked it away where they hoped no one could ever get at it. But then that evil being escaped the Shadow Realm and he managed to slip inside and take it."

Marik ran a hand down his face. "And then he gave it to Lawton. Oh joy."

"And now Lawton is using it over the entire realm," Regulus said. "It's exactly as Ancient Fairy Dragon and I feared." He sighed. "And if I leave this section of the world, I will fall under Lawton's control again. I dare not leave; I don't want to risk hurting any of you again."

"You've told us a lot, Regulus," Luna said. "This is going to help!"

"What does this object look like?" Ishizu asked.

"It's a red oval pendant," Regulus said.

"Lawton wasn't wearing anything like that," Yusei frowned.

"Maybe he was keeping it inside his shirt or in his pocket," Kalin said. "He has to have it."

"And just defeating him in person is enough to break the spell?" Marik looked skeptical. "Doesn't the pendant need to be taken from him?"

"His defeat will break the spell, just as the wizard's defeat saved our realm in the past," Regulus said. "But yes, you should definitely get the pendant away from him as well."

"Consider it done," Atem said.

"Please, save Ancient Fairy Dragon and this world," Regulus implored. "Yours is likely in danger as well. Once Lawton has complete and lasting control of this realm, he will no doubt turn his sights to others."

Yusei clenched a fist. "That is not going to happen."

Yami Bakura, who had also returned with his group, was frowning at the tale. "You say the wizard's essence would remain with the object," he said. "Would that cause any pesky little problems such as possession?"

"I don't think it was causing anything except infusing the stone with even more evil magic," Regulus said.

Kalin nodded. "Lawton didn't seem different. I don't think he's possessed."

"Possessed?!" Malcolm yelped.

Jack scowled. "Are we really going to keep carting this person around with us?"

"We still need him," Yusei said. "Yeah, he's still coming."

"And speaking of needing him . . ." Atem gave Malcolm a stern and searching look. "Where do we go next?"

Malcolm's shoulders slumped. "After we go through the rest of the forest, we come out to a clearing with a cliff. Barbara's waiting there with her Harpie Ladies."

"A Harpie deck?!" Joey perked up. "Oh, I definitely know how to handle those! I'll take her on!"

Atem had other things on his mind. "A cliff?" he frowned. "How do we continue our journey after defeating Barbara?!"

"There's a rickety old bridge," Malcolm said. "We'll all have to cross that. Barbara's not going to like you having me with you, though." Fear flickered in his eyes. "Lawton was more than willing to sell me out. She will be too."

"Well, at least you recognize that," Radley said.

"You won't reconsider?!" Malcolm looked desperately to Atem, who just frowned back, unmoved.

"No," he said. "You're not to be trusted, so we couldn't let you go even if we didn't still need your help."

"Oh . . ." Malcolm groaned. "I am not going to make it out of this alive. . . ."

"Does The Facility still sound so bad to you?" Crow wondered.

Malcolm glowered at him and didn't answer.

"We'd better get going," Yusei said.

"Yes, you should," Regulus said. "I will do what I can to further help you from here. I may be able to stall Malcolm's minions from following you into the next sector."

"Be careful, Regulus," Luna said in concern.

"I'll be fine, Luna," Regulus insisted.

It was with reluctance that the group resumed their journey into the forest. When they were almost all into the trees, one of Malcolm's Crewmembers suddenly cried out behind them in a whiny voice as he approached.

"What the . . . ! Regulus, why aren't you going after them?!"

Regulus bared his teeth and roared at the thug, who shrieked.

"You know, I don't think he's on our side anymore!" a second one wailed.

"Hey! Help!" Malcolm yelled. He struggled to get out of Atem's grip. "Get me away from these people!"

"Boss!" The whiny henchman looked helplessly over at him. "I don't think we can get over there! The lion's not helping us anymore!"

"Where are your brains?!" Malcolm fumed. "All the Duel Monsters in this sector are free! You'll have to move on to another sector!"

Regulus bounded down and ran back and forth in front of the three stooges, who stared in horror.

"We can't!" the third yelped.

"Well, we can try, but it's going to take a while!" the whiny one exclaimed.

"We'll be long gone by then," Yusei said.

"Let's hope," Gansley grunted.


	5. It's the Noble Heart That Makes You Strong

The forest was mysterious, yet even under the curse it didn't feel ominous or frightening. When they drew closer to the clearing the group spread out, again looking for the staff. It had to be located before they encountered Barbara, so that Joey or whoever dueled her would have control over their monsters.

"It's kind of weird we haven't run into any Duel Monsters in here," Téa said in concern. "Where are they?!"

"Just be grateful they're staying out of sight," Solomon said.

"I would, only I guess I'm wondering if they're hurt or something," Téa said.

Yusei glowered at Malcolm. "Is that true? Did your men do something to them?"

"How would I know? I've been with you," Malcolm retorted.

"You'd know if you gave them orders before we ran into you," Yusei said.

Malcolm looked away.

"You did tell them something, didn't you?" Radley frowned.

"Lawton wanted a bunch of them to help fix up the castle and the grounds," Malcolm said. "Most of them were sent there."

"Oh, real nice," Tristan scowled.

"Here's the staff!" Marik announced. He emerged from the brush holding one of the mysterious staffs. "And this Barbara person is right beyond these trees. I saw her talking to her Harpie Ladies."

"I'm there!" Joey barreled ahead through the trees.

"Joey, we should really find out more about this Barbara before you plunge into a duel with her!" Bakura exclaimed.

"We know she's a creep!" Joey said. "What else do we need to know?!"

"She has a whip," Kalin said. "And she's not afraid to use it."

"And she betrays anyone if she sees a better deal come along," Malcolm grumbled.

"Then it sounds like she and Lawton are made for each other," Seto grunted.

"Pretty much," Yusei agreed.

"I'll be careful," Joey said, and hurried on his way.

Antinomy shook his head. "He reminds me of Jack."

"He is, kind of," Yusei said.

"I'm nothing like he is," Jack snorted.

"Or maybe Jack is more like a cross between Joey and Kaiba," Kalin said.

Tristan had to snark at that. From Seto's expression, he wasn't impressed.

Joey burst through the trees and stopped, a bit taken aback by Barbara standing right there and apparently waiting for him. "Hey," he greeted. "I'm here to duel!"

"Well, you don't waste any time," Barbara smirked. "I guess since we both already know what we're here for, there's little point in going over any of it." She unfolded her Duel Gun. "Let's go."

Joey quickly readied himself as well. "You knew I was coming?"

"I heard you crashing through the trees," she said dryly.

The others caught up as the duel began. "It's nice to see someone still using some familiar cards," Téa said. "I was starting to wonder if anyone here did!"

"Let's just hope Joey has good luck today," Tristan said. "He's always struggled against Mai's Harpies."

"You know, I've gotta ask," Joey said as the duel got underway. "Why do you wanna work with a creep like Lawton?"

"A woman wants a man who knows what he wants and has the power to take it," Barbara replied. She set two cards facedown and summoned a Harpie Lady. "Malcolm was good at that for a while, but Lawton was better. After he came to Crash Town the first time and got rid of the preacher, I decided I wanted to fall in with him. We were secretly married and I started plotting to help him take over."

"And no regrets?" Joey frowned. He drew his next card and studied his options. "I've been hearing that Lawton betrayed you too, when he had the chance."

"We decided to try again." Barbara's voice had grown icy.

"You little tramp," Malcolm spat. "I should have recognized you for what you were from the start!"

"You never were good at seeing the whole picture, Malcolm," Radley remarked.

"So why Malcolm and Lawton and not Radley?" Crow wondered. "He was sure taking what he wanted for a while there."

Barbara tossed her hair. "He was little more than a boy."

Radley looked at her in disbelief. "You're not that much older than me!"

"I like older men," Barbara smirked. "Besides, you were also too soft. Malcolm's ideas of raw power were much more appealing."

"Then you and Lawton really do deserve each other," Jack said in disgust.

"That about sums it up," Crump said.

Barbara looked to the Big Five with a bit of a glint in her eye, but when none of them reacted, she scowled and turned her attention back to the duel.

Joey had definitely learned from his duels with Mai on how to handle Harpie decks. The duel went on for a while but Joey eventually triumphed, bringing Barbara to her knees in frustration when she lost. "No . . . !"

Yusei stepped forward. "Are you the last one we have to face before Lawton, other than the one who brought you all here?"

"Yes," she said sullenly. "But you know Lawton; he'll have some other tricks when you get there."

"Yeah, we know," Yusei said.

"Some of the old mine guards will be roaming around," Malcolm said. "They'll probably want to duel too."

"And Ancient Fairy Dragon is really trapped there?!" Luna said in dismay.

"Of course," Barbara said. "Lawton couldn't take over without oppressing her. And he couldn't fully put her under his spell; the most they could do was to control her enough to speak through her to get you over here and then trap her using another of the pendant's powers."

"You know, somebody's really gotta do something about how often she's getting trapped places," Crow said.

"When we get the pendant, we'll have to figure out how to purify it," Yusei said.

"Right now we need to figure out what we're going to do with Barbara," Yugi said. "I don't know that we should take her with us too. . . ."

"Why don't we just leave both her and Malcolm tied up here?" Jack said.

"Works for me," Crump said. "But do we even have any more rope?"

"No, but I have another idea," Yami Bakura smirked. He grabbed Barbara's whip and unfurled it, then wrapped it around her, to her indignation.

"It probably won't be long and Malcolm's three stooges will catch up and release them," Radley said. "Let's try to get a headstart."

"Are we sure we don't need Malcolm anymore, though?" Bakura wondered in concern.

"Let's keep him with us," Atem said. "But Barbara will stay here. Radley is probably right that she will be set free soon. Hopefully by then we will have made some more progress."

Joey ran off ahead. "Here's the bridge!" he yelled with a wild wave. "Only . . . man, it sure does look rickety. . . ." He eyed the swinging logs with apprehension. "I don't know if we're all gonna make it across before it breaks. . . ."

Téa gulped. Flying through the air on a splintered rope bridge in Noa's world was still one of her most unsettling memories. She did not want to repeat it.

"Yugi and the kids should go first," Radley decided. "Then the rest of us will start going."

"We will bring up the rear," Gansley said, indicating the Big Five, Solomon, and Rishid.

Realizing the plan was to go by weight and size, Yugi blushed a bit but agreed. That was the most logical.

Leo cringed as he and Luna started crossing the bridge with Yugi and Mokuba. It was high and the water was rushing far below. "Don't look down, don't look down," he told himself over and over.

"It's going to be alright, Leo," Luna told him. "We'll make it."

"Yeah . . . of course we will!" Leo stammered.

Joey was about as visibly nervous as Leo. Téa was trying to be calm, but the fear and worry stood in her eyes. The bridge was definitely weakening the more people who went over. It looked less and less likely that all of them would make it across before it snapped. Yusei, Kalin, Radley, and Marik crossed safely, as did Atem, Seto, the Bakuras, and Jack. And then, just as Tristan was trying to step onto the bridge to make his way over, it gave way.

"Tristan!" Yugi, Joey, and Téa screamed in horror.

Tristan screamed too, desperately grabbing the rope railing as the bridge unraveled in two parts. His half sailed back to the edge of the cliff and clattered there.

"Mr. Taylor!" Lector bent down to grab for his wrists. "Are you alright?!"

"Yeah." Tristan scowled, but was relieved Lector was there to pull him up. "But now what are we going to do to get everyone else over?!"

Nesbitt glowered at Malcolm. "Well?"

Malcolm scowled. ". . . There are other ways," he said grudgingly. "There's a long pass over those mountains, but they're infested with Winged Beasts who don't wanna be disturbed."

"What about having Barbara's Harpies fly you over?" Yusei asked from the other side.

"Yeah, I don't think so," Tristan said. "Maybe we should've told Mai about this."

". . . I could make some vines real," Akiza offered. She eyed Gansley and Solomon. Gansley especially didn't look like he should be climbing hand over hand on a vine rope. "I guess that wouldn't really be a good idea either, though. . . ."

Crump gulped. "I guess we're takin' the pass then?"

Joey flipped through his deck. "I wonder if I could summon some real monsters from my deck if it's not a duel. The Dark Magician stuck around after the duel."

"But that's probably because he's Mahad," Atem said.

"Unfortunately, I can't fly," the Dark Magician said. "Although with my magic I can jump very far. I could try to go back and forth bringing the others over."

Gansley looked queasy at the thought. But on the other hand, trying to climb a mountain range didn't sound appealing in his condition either.

"I'll just try and see if it will work," the Dark Magician said. He quickly leaped across the chasm and selected Tristan to try first. The boy yelped in shock and a bit of terror as they soared, but when they safely arrived on the opposite side he stopped and blinked in surprise.

"That wasn't so bad," he said.

"Okay then," Yusei said. "The Dark Magician will bring everyone else over, but in the meantime, I think we'd better start going on ahead. Lawton's probably recovered from that blast by now and he's no doubt gone back to preparing things for our arrival."

"And the sky's looking awfully dark," Luna worried. "I think this world is upset about what Lawton's doing. It was like this during Zeman's takeover too."

Leo gulped. "You don't think the world might start . . . falling apart or something, do you, Sis?"

"I sure hope not," Luna said.

Atem sighed. "I agree with Yusei. We need to go on ahead and see what's in store next."

"We'll catch up as soon as we can," Lector promised.

Kalin nodded. "Be careful."

The first group didn't need to advance very far before they saw a tremendous crater in the broken and desolate ground. A red glow covered the entire top of the crater, and when Luna looked down, she saw to her horror that Ancient Fairy Dragon was trapped inside. "Ancient Fairy Dragon!" she cried.

"Luna . . . I am so sorry I was forced to lead you and your friends into a trap," came the dragon's sad voice.

"It wasn't your fault," Luna insisted. "And we needed to come here anyway! I promise we're going to save you and this world!"

"It must be done quickly," Ancient Fairy Dragon cautioned. "That evil man Lawton has done something. I'm not sure what, but I can sense it. Something is wrong, and dangerous."

"Could it destroy the whole world?!" Leo yelped.

"I'm afraid it can destroy a large part of it, and probably all of you," Ancient Fairy Dragon replied.

"Well, there's the castle right over there," Yusei said, pointing to a large structure just behind and to the left of the crater.

"We're off!" Jack and Joey both jumped over the side of the plateau and started half-running, half-sliding down.

"Yeah, they're two of a kind," Tristan deadpanned.

"Be careful," Ancient Fairy Dragon warned. "I'm sure Lawton won't simply allow you to walk inside his castle unchallenged."

"We will be very careful," Atem promised.

The sky rippled and Lawton gave a cruel chuckle. "You are so right, Ancient Fairy Dragon."

Without warning, red pillars shot up around each person, effectively separating them from everyone else. The pillars then stretched outward, forming narrow paths for each to take.

"Hey! What the heck?!" Joey cried. "What are you doing?!"

"Let's see who can reach me first," Lawton said. "Some paths go directly to the castle, while others twist all around first. And no, you can't cross over to someone else's path."

Joey was already reaching out a finger to poke the red barrier. He yelped when it shocked his finger. "Gah!"

Jack was furious. "No one does this to Jack Atlas!" he boomed.

"I just did," Lawton countered.

Leo was horrified. "Luna!" He looked to his twin on the other side of the barrier.

Luna tried to smile. "Everything's going to be okay, Leo," she said. "We'll meet up again when we get out of here."

Mokuba was worried too. "Seto!" He looked to his brother.

Seto was outraged. "Right now we're not going to have any choice but to get through this maze separately," he said. "Stay strong, little brother."

"But . . . you're hurt," Mokuba said.

"I'll deal with it," Seto insisted.

"Oh, and you'd better hurry," Lawton taunted. "Time is of the essence here."

"Why?!" Kalin demanded. "What else have you done, Lawton?!"

"Find me and find out," Lawton replied.

Yusei sighed, heavily. "Well, this is it then. We don't have any choice but to play his game." He looked to Kalin and Antinomy. "I'll see you guys and the others later."

Antinomy nodded.

"Take care, Yusei," Kalin said.

"I wonder if Lawton has already chosen who he wants to face," Radley muttered. "You've already dueled him now, Kalin."

"He might want a re-match," Kalin said. "The more I defeat him, the more he probably hates me."

Radley sighed. "Well, with my luck my path will probably come out over a waterfall. I'll see you later."

Kalin nodded. "Be careful."

He did wonder, as did each of them, how this was going to go. Had Lawton chosen each of their paths, or was it all completely random? He sighed. Well, there was nothing to do but go forward.

Marik was surprised when his path ended before long and dumped him in what seemed to be a dead forest. Blackened tree skeletons stretched towards the sky as far as he could see. The destruction reminded him all too well of someone he wished had never come into existence.

"I know you're here," he spoke. "Come out and face me!"

Yami Marik cackled madly and dropped out of a tree in front of him. "I was hoping it would be you, Marik. I've had 30 years to prepare for this duel. It's going to be like nothing you've ever experienced."

Marik narrowed his eyes. "You've been very vague throughout all this. Are you the one from my dimension?"

Yami Marik grinned. "Even if I answer you, how will you know whether to believe me?"

"I won't," Marik admitted. "Only I know if the truth is a grim one, you'll be all too happy to tell me."

"There's something else I want to tell you," Yami Marik said. "You won't survive this duel, and neither will whoever faces Lawton." His expression twisted in a grotesque manner.

"Well, I can believe you'll try to kill me, but what exactly is the danger from Lawton?" Marik frowned.

"Oh, that's a secret," Yami Marik taunted. "I'll let you worry about it all during our duel. It may hurt your concentration." He unfolded his Duel Disk and took out his deck.

Marik glowered at him as he did likewise. "At least I know you don't have Ra anymore."

"There are a lot of cards you've never seen before, and some of them are in my deck," Yami Marik bragged. "Wait until you've seen the power of Dark Synchros!"

Marik narrowed his eyes. "I've seen Synchro Summoning today. Dark Synchros are different?"

"Oh yes," Yami Marik grinned. "They're right up my alley. When the shadows are devoured by even darker shadows, the curtain pulls back to reveal a world without light!"

Marik drew his first hand. "That sounds like you. You don't frighten me."

"Maybe not now, when you're the one being threatened. But after you're gone, I'll be sure to target Ishizu and Rishid and little Mokuba." Yami Marik drew as well.

"I won't be gone," Marik insisted. "I'm going to defeat you."

"We'll see," Yami Marik sneered.

Thunder boomed overhead.  
****  
Lawton hissed as he sat on Zeman's old throne and rubbed at his forehead. Whatever Kalin had done in that final attack of their duel, it still hurt. And it wasn't even the first time that monster had got the better of him. He was really starting to hate that thing.

He really didn't know whose path was going to cross with his first. Even though he had controlled to some extent where the paths went, that didn't necessarily mean Kalin and Yusei would find him first. For all he knew, it might be those kids or that screwball Joey. He really had no desire to duel them.

And then there was what he was going to do about Malcolm and Barbara. They had lost their duels, and if he had to abandon them, he would. Maybe that wouldn't be necessary. But he was about self-preservation above all else. He really didn't care who he threw under the bus as long as he was safe.

He started at the sound of footsteps on the stone floor. "Who's there?" he barked. Who had got here first?

"It's me."

Lawton was stunned. "You?!" He got up from the throne and walked to the doorway. "Your path wasn't even supposed to come out here!"

"It didn't. I found my way in."

Lawton slowly started to sneer. "So, you want to duel, is that it? You think you'll be the one to defeat me and save this realm? I can beat you without even lifting a finger! I did it before and I'll do it again."

"No. You won't. You surprised me before and you beat me with a dirty trick. It's going to be different this time, Lawton." Radley stepped into the light and drew his Duel Gun. "I'm going to defeat you."

"Well, maybe. But it won't be that simple. You see, I have a couple of conditions for this duel." Lawton walked across the space and threw open the doors on the far side of the room. "We're going to duel out here, on this ledge."

Radley stared. "What?!"

"And if you don't beat me in fifteen minutes, all the Blast Spheres I've set up around the area are going to blow up and kill whoever's near them." Lawton stopped walking and turned back. "They're connected with the pendant I've got and will only shut off if I'm defeated. Of course, I'm sure that doesn't matter to a self-serving little coward like you." He sneered. "I heard all about your whining and your blowing up at Kalin in the mines. You sent people there all the time yourself, but you couldn't take some of your own medicine, could you?"

"I never hurt my workers," Radley spat. "And I don't have to explain my moments of weakness to you." He walked past Lawton onto the ledge. Far below, the water crashed against the side of the cliff they were on. "I'll duel under your conditions. I don't have much choice, though, do I?"

"None at all, unless you want to refuse and hope that someone else will come and take over for you." Lawton stepped out with him. "Oh, and there's one other little condition I should mention. Even if you win against me, you're probably going to die yourself."

Radley blanched. "Why?!"

"Well, the ledge isn't that strong and it'll probably crumble from the force of our duel since we're in the Duel Monsters world," Lawton said. "All the damage will be real."

"You're crazy!" Radley exclaimed. "Don't you realize you're putting yourself in danger too?!"

Lawton shrugged. "No pain, no gain. I let myself get hurt when I blew up the mountain, since I had so much to gain from that going off right." He sneered as he took note of Radley's hand shaking. "Is it already too much for you?"

Radley glowered at him. "No. You're going to regret accepting this duel, Lawton. I could have beat you in Crash Town, and I'm going to beat you here. I won't let you use your Blast Spheres."

Something red glowed under Lawton's shirt and a timer appeared in the sky, counting down from fifteen minutes. "Alright then," Lawton said. "Give me your best shot."


	6. What I Must Do

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Malcolm's, Barbara's, and Radley's decks are basically the ones used in the Over the Nexus game, although I gave Radley a few other cards to help him combat Lawton. I hardly ever write out duels, which is pretty obvious, but I had to write this one. Sweet, sweet justice. Although brace yourselves, things get darker from this point on for a bit.... Any odd things in the duel will be explained later.

It was Yusei's luck to end up facing off against some of Malcolm's old mine guards when he emerged from his path on the rocks near the castle. The guards looked over at him and sneered.

"Well, what do we have here?" taunted one. "It's the crafty prisoner who got away from the mines."

"I need to get past," Yusei growled. "But I won't be able to without going past all of you guys, will I?"

"The kid's smart," a second guard grinned. "Yeah, you have to beat all of us or you can't keep going."

"And there's the little problem that your Duel Monsters probably won't obey you since Lawton's controlling this whole area without a staff," said a third.

Yusei glowered at all of them. "Well, since I don't have a choice, I'll just have to take my chances." He unfurled his Duel Disk.

The guards snickered as they brought out their Duel Guns. "You'll take us all on at the same time, too," the first laughed.

Yusei didn't like that at all. But he still didn't have much choice in the matter, so he just said, "Fine."

The waves crashed against the rocks below them. It wasn't an ideal place to duel, but it had to be done anyway. Yusei drew his first hand and waited for his opponents to draw theirs. As they did, the timer appeared in the sky.  
"What the heck is that?!" one of the guards exclaimed.

Yusei narrowed his eyes. He didn't know, but he didn't like it. And the fact that the guards were clueless too made it even more concerning.

Lawton's voice boomed out an explanation in the next moment. Suddenly the guards couldn't care less about dueling. And as they flailed about in panic, Yusei turned and ran for the castle, his heart twisting in alarm.  
****  
Kalin's path had come out on the castle grounds. But when he was instantly surrounded by angry, mind-controlled Duel Monsters, he had no idea what to do. There was no staff to look for in this sector; defeating Lawton was the only way to break the control here. He did the only thing he could—he pushed the nearest Duel Monster into the others and ran, leaping over a hedge and towards the castle. They were barreling after him, but he got there first, and shattered a glass window as he crashed through to the other side. He was up again in an instant and out of the room, pushing the heavy doors shut behind him. Maybe that would hold them off long enough for him to come up with a better plan. He had to find Lawton.

He was running past another window when he caught sight of the red timer. "What the . . . ?!" Stunned, he went over closer for a better look. It was counting down from fifteen minutes, but why? What was going to happen in fifteen minutes? It must be something Lawton had activated, so it couldn't be good.

He desperately looked around the grounds. No one else was in sight. If they hadn't all gotten separated, he could ask Malcolm what the timer was all about. As it was, he could only guess.

Lawton liked to blow things up. Maybe in fifteen minutes something was going to explode. But what?

In the next instant that question was answered . . . and Kalin's blood ran cold.

"Attention, all of you out there who think you're going to stop this takeover," Lawton drawled, his voice again carrying through the sky. "Your fate is now in the hands of the most unlikely person possible. If Radley doesn't beat me in fifteen minutes, I'm going to blow a lot of things up. And more than likely, some or all of you are going to die—especially since you have no idea where the explosives are. I'm not going to tell you. So I'd say you'd better start saying your Goodbyes, or your prayers, or whatever it is you want for your last words, because there is no way he's going to win."

"Radley," Kalin whispered in horror. How had this happened? He had never once dreamed that Radley would be the one to find Lawton first. The cruel manipulations of their positions had left everything up to chance. Kalin hadn't got here quickly enough and now who knew what would happen?

He clenched a fist. He had to believe in Radley. His deck was powerful. If he literally was able to play his cards right, Lawton would regret ever challenging him. And after Lawton's cruel humiliation of Radley in the past, he would be underestimating what Radley could do. Maybe this was actually a good thing. Lawton would be planning on a swift takedown, and probably think that Radley would be easy to beat in any case. But Kalin knew what rare creatures were lurking in Radley's deck. In the distant past, only one copy of each had existed. More recently, Industrial Illusions had printed more copies, but they were still extremely rare and the free spirits very hard to control. It took someone of strong will to do it.

Only . . . would the monsters even obey Radley now? They would all be under Lawton's control.

Panicked again, Kalin took off running down the corridor.  
****  
Outside, Joey had reached the end of his pathway and come out somewhere on the grasslands. Lawton's announcement had him throwing his hands to the sky. "Are you kidding me?!" he screamed. "Whether we get blown to Kingdom Come is bein' left up to Radley?!"

"Mr. Wheeler!"

He turned. The Big Five's group was finally catching up now. Lector in particular looked very worried.

"Oh man, guys," Joey said. "This is seriously bad. What the heck are we gonna do?!"

"It would seem there's nothing we can do," Gansley grunted.

"And I can't even trust my own brother!" Malcolm cried. "Maybe I'll get blown up with the lot of you!"

"Mr. Kessler trusts Mr. Radley," Lector said. "We should believe in him too."

"Radley . . . !" Malcolm snorted, as if that was the most preposterous thing in the world.

"Yeah, but . . ." Joey's shoulders slumped. "Even if he's trustworthy, what if he can't win?! We all saw Lawton's deck! It's brutal and I don't know how Kalin beat it!"

"But he did beat it," Ishizu said. "We must have faith the same thing will happen again." Her eyes flickered. "Where is Marik?"

"I don't know that either," Joey moaned. "Lawton got us all separated!"

"Well, we'd better stick together now," Crow said in concern. "Let's go look for everyone!"

Joey dejectedly agreed to that and hurried off with the group.  
****  
In the tree cemetery, Yami Marik threw back his head and laughed.

"Can you imagine?!" he sneered. "Your fate is up to Radley now?!"

Marik glowered. "I have no reason to believe that Radley can't win."

"Maybe not, but Lawton didn't even let him get off a move before," Yami Marik jeered.

"That says nothing about Radley's skills as a Duelist," Marik said. "If he has a fair chance to prove himself, he may be able to come through for us."

"Note that ‘may,'" Yami Marik replied.

"How about we just get back to our duel?" Marik said darkly.

"That's fine with me. Of course, you're going to lose soon if you can't figure out a way to beat my monsters," Yami Marik said. "And you're not going to be able to."

"Your Dark Synchros are powerful, but they have to have some weaknesses," Marik frowned.

"And you think you can find those weaknesses with your old-school cards?" Yami Marik mocked. "You and all the others should have stopped off in New Domino City and upgraded your decks before coming here!"

Marik just glowered. There hadn't been time, but he didn't need to bother saying that to him. "Our cards are still valid and good," he said instead.

"But they're just not as powerful," Yami Marik said. "I warned you you'd die."

"I'm not going to die," Marik said coolly. "And I'm going to hope Radley doesn't die either."

"It's unlikely he can win and survive both," Yami Marik said.

"Well . . ." Marik overturned a facedown card and used it to destroy Yami Marik's monster. "I guess we'll see." He smirked as his dark counterpart snarled in frustrated rage. "I guess the power of Offerings to the Doomed still works on your futuristic cards."

Yami Marik stuck his tongue out. "I still have more surprises in store."

"Of course you do," Marik grunted.  
****  
On the ledge, Radley had just made his first move.

"I place two cards facedown and play the monster Crystal Beast Amethyst Cat," Radley said.

Lawton sneered. "That's your best opening move? This is going to go just like it did last time! You seriously think you can do any damage with that cutesy card? Your deck is even more pathetic than I thought! I play Gatling Ogre! Then I'm placing three cards facedown. We both know what's going to happen if I banish all three of them."

"Only you won't get the chance." Radley flipped over one of his facedown cards. "Dark Hole. All monsters on the field are destroyed."

Lawton snarled in aggravation as his Gatling Ogre vanished. But just as quickly, he was cruelly amused again. "We're right back where we started!" he taunted. "You're monster-less now too!"

"Not quite," Radley replied. "A Crystal Beast, when destroyed faceup, can be placed in the magic and trap zone as a continuous magic card."

Lawton snorted. "It's not like that will do you any good. It's useless!"

Radley smirked at him. "We'll see."

The man's confidence was unnerving, especially when Lawton had been so sure that there was nothing he could do. He scowled. "There's nothing I can do but to end my turn."

"Then I play Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus," Radley calmly replied.

"But will your monster obey you if you try to launch an attack?" Lawton sneered. "Remember, they're all under my control here."

"I'll try anyway," Radley said. "Sapphire Pegasus, attack with Sapphire Whirlwind!"

Sapphire Pegasus snorted and pawed at the ground.

Radley gripped his cards. "Attack! This isn't a time when you can fool around. Lawton means business and he's going to destroy a large chunk of your world, and my friends, if you don't fight him!"

Sapphire Pegasus paced, flipping his tail. But when he did, a few strips of blue swirled out from his gem. He desperately wanted to obey Radley.

"That's enough of an attack that I can play Widespread Ruin," Lawton said. "So it was all in vain again anyway."

"Only it wasn't," Radley said. "This card goes into the magic and trap zone as well."

"This is crazy," Lawton scoffed. "Your strategy is absolutely senseless! And you're running out of time. There's only ten minutes left!"

"I play Pot of Greed to draw two more cards and end my turn," Radley replied.

"It's not like you can do anything else," Lawton snorted. "I summon another Gatling Ogre! And now I banish my two remaining facedown cards to deal you 1600 points of damage!"

Radley braced himself. He had hoped to never have to experience this pain again. The strange supernatural force in Crash Town had already made the damage feel real before, so it wasn't a surprise to feel the blasts seem to tear into him. He screamed, stumbling backwards on the ledge. Behind him, a large chunk of it broke off and fell into the sea far below.

Lawton sneered. "It feels good to hear you in pain again. That's just the way it should be—the strong overpowering the weak. And you've always been the weakest Duelist I've ever faced."

Radley stumbled to regain his footing. As he did, a warm liquid trailed down his arm and over his hand. He looked down with a gasp.

"A little more real than you were planning on, isn't it?" Lawton smoothly told him.

Radley was still staring. "I'm . . . I'm bleeding," he gasped.

"And when you take those remaining points of damage, it'll be lights out for you," Lawton said. "You see, I kind of lied about the ledge being the only thing that might kill you."

Radley clenched his teeth. "That . . . doesn't surprise me. I play Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle and end my turn."

"That's the worst one yet!" Lawton snorted. "Your deck is just loaded with those useless monsters, isn't it?" He drew a card and sneered more. "Now I'm going to get rid of my Gatling Ogre so I can summon Full Armor Ogre! I'll destroy your Ruby Carbuncle and deal you 1300 points of battle damage. But there's more. When Full Armor Ogre destroys a monster in battle, he pounds you with an additional 1000 points of damage! You only have 100 lifepoints left!"

Again Radley screamed, this time flying backwards on what remained of the ledge. He crashed hard on his back, gasping, staring up at the night sky as blood ran down his face. The pain was real, so real. . . . He was barely conscious. Lawton's defeat of him in Crash Town had rendered him senseless from the pain. But . . . he wasn't defeated yet. Now he had the cards for his victory. He had to get up.

"Are you going to finish this duel, or are you going to lay down and die like the dog you are?" Lawton taunted.

Radley struggled to his feet. "I'm . . . I'm going to win," he rasped. "You've just sealed your own tomb, Lawton."

"Oh really?" Lawton folded his arms. "I'd like to just see you try to beat me now."

Radley's legs were violently shaking. He really felt like he was going to tumble right off the ledge. But he couldn't. He had to keep going. He was their only hope, as bizarre as that was. He couldn't let Kalin die. And . . . he didn't want the others to either.

"I . . . I play Supremacy Berry," he rasped. "When my lifepoints are lower than yours, I regain 2000 of them."

The healing magic of the card felt amazing. Many of his wounds healed and he could finally breathe easier. Then, with his mind clearer, he swiped all three Crystal Beasts off of his field and into his graveyard.

"What in the world are you doing now?" Lawton snorted.

"When I have three continuous magic cards active, I can remove them to play this. Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder!" Radley held the card up and let Lawton stare at it in disbelief before he placed it on the field.

Lawton could still barely believe it as the humungous monster appeared, spreading its wings wide in the sky. "4000 points! . . . You really have a monster so powerful?! How?!"

"You underestimated me," Radley said. "Now, let's see how you like a taste of your own medicine. Hamon, attack Full Armor Ogre."

Fear flashed in Lawton's eyes. "No!" He couldn't stop the attack. He could see from the beast's eyes that something enabled it enough freedom to at least partially withstand his control. And that was all Radley needed.

Full Armor Ogre was destroyed. Lawton screamed as this time, the pain and the wounds tore into him.

"Hamon has another effect as well," Radley said. "When it destroys a monster, you take 1000 points of damage. Sound familiar?"

Again Lawton screamed, falling back against the castle wall. Blood dripped down his arms and over his chest. The ledge shook as more of it tore away. He snarled, breathing heavily as he caught himself. "I still have 1400 points left," he said, "and that's going to be fatal for you. When Full Armor Ogre is destroyed, I can Special Summon Gatling Ogre from the graveyard. And I have enough magic and trap cards to end you on my next turn." He held up three. "You put up a good fight, Radley, I'll admit that. I never thought you could have it in you. Hamon, wow, that beast is really something. But my effect damage still beats even your most powerful monster."

Conflict flickered in Radley's eyes. ". . . I play Torrential Tribute," he said at last. "All monsters on the field are destroyed."

"Are you serious?!" Lawton exclaimed. "You're destroying your own monster too!"

"Yes, I know," Radley said. "But I had to get rid of Gatling Ogre. Now I'll still have a chance."

"I don't know what chance you think you have," Lawton snorted.

"I use Monster Reborn to bring back Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle in Defense mode," Radley replied.

"Oh, we're back to those things again," Lawton snorted. He drew and glowered at his hand. "Well, I can't do anything this turn, except this." He placed a card facedown.

"Then I play Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth," Radley said. "If he can successfully attack, you're through."

"Unfortunately for you, his attack power just got cut down to size," Lawton replied. "I play Wall of Disruption. All your monsters lose 800 attack points for every monster on your side of the field. You've got two, so they lose 1600 attack points. Your Amber Mammoth only has 100 attack points left." When the attack came, he barely flinched. "I hardly felt that at all."

Radley clenched his teeth. If Lawton drew a monster card, he would get slammed for a lot of attack points when it attacked Amber Mammoth.

Lawton drew, and placed another card facedown. "Sooner or later I'm going to draw my other Gatling Ogre," he said. "Then you're going to be done for."

"Maybe," Radley replied. He drew a card. "I activate Card of Sanctity. We each draw until we have six cards."

Lawton sneered. "You're desperate if you're helping me. Or are you searching for something and you're willing to go to these lengths to find it?"

Radley didn't answer. "Now I activate Graceful Charity. I draw three more cards and discard two." He drew a deep breath. "I place another card facedown, play Crystal Beast Emerald Tortoise in Defense mode, and switch Amber Mammoth to Defense mode. That's all I can do this turn."

Again Lawton drew, and his eyes glinted. "Well, you're in for it now, Radley," he said. "I've just drawn my third Gatling Ogre, and I have more than enough facedown cards to send you to Davy Jones' locker."

"Not this turn," Radley said. "Pikeru's Circle of Enchantment. All effect damage this turn becomes zero." A small child appeared on the field and drew a protective circle around Radley.

Lawton clenched his teeth. "You've got some absolutely bizarre cards. You know that?"

"Well, you see, Lawton, I came prepared just in case I would have to face you," Radley smirked.

"Maybe so, but this is the end of the line, Radley," Lawton said. "Your next turn is your last. I'm taking you down on my next one."

Radley drew, and his heart clenched. This card. . . .

"Well, Radley?" Lawton folded his arms. "Did you draw anything worth using or not?"

Still Radley hesitated. It was the card he had been waiting for. He had to use it and stop Lawton. It truly was his last shot. But . . . when he used it, the damage would be enormous with the rules Lawton had imposed on the duel.

His throat constricted. "I didn't want to die," he whispered.

"Who does?" Lawton retorted. "That doesn't mean it's not going to happen."

Radley sighed. "I know. And I know I'm probably going to die either way in this duel, so . . ."

Suddenly Kalin ran through the castle doors on the ground level, far below where the duel was taking place. "Radley!" he yelled.

Radley looked down at his friend. By now they had come through so much together. Now, because of Lawton, it was over. But at least . . . they could see each other one last time. Perhaps part of Radley's hesitation had been knowing he couldn't say Goodbye. Now, at least, there was that.

It wasn't much consolation, though. Not when he wanted to live.

He drew a shaking breath. "It looks like this is it, Kalin," he said.

"No!" Kalin cried. "Radley . . . !"

"It?!" Lawton mocked. "Of course it is, for you! Your wimpy Crystal Beasts have been shattered by my raw power over and over again. Even your best card, Hamon, was taken out, by you! And now on my next move, it's curtains for you when Gatling Ogre unleashes his effect again!"

"No," Radley replied. "Now you're about to witness the true power of the Crystal Beasts."

Kalin's heart twisted in horrified realization. "Radley, if you do this . . . !"

"I know," Radley interrupted. "But there's no other way to stop him, is there? And I have to stop him. Those Blast Spheres are going to go off in less than two minutes." He managed a genuine smile. "I once said out of frustration and hurt that your only good quality was your dueling style. I was wrong. Thank you, for allowing me to experience the light of your friendship. No matter what happens to me after this, I'll never forget that."

Kalin stared at him. "Radley . . . you've been a good friend too. One of the best I've had." He clenched his fists. "And I don't want to lose you."

"I don't want to die," Radley said. His hands were shaking in his fear and dread. "I guess there's a chance I'll survive, but . . . the ledge will probably break with this attack and it's a long drop into the water."

"It sure is," Lawton mocked. "They'll probably never even find your body. You poor, pathetic fool."

"You humiliated me last time and didn't let me get off one move," Radley said. "Now you're going to see what else would have happened had we dueled properly back then. Hamon is only one of my ace monsters. I use all seven unique Crystal Beasts on the field and in my graveyard to Summon Rainbow Dragon!"

Kalin was transfixed, staring in shocked awe as the magnificent beast appeared. Lawton, too, was unable to refrain from some level of admiration. "Another 4000 attack points?!"

"That's right," Radley smirked. "You're done for."

"That may be," Lawton said, "but so are you."

Kalin clenched a fist. "Radley . . . !" He was utterly helpless. There was nothing he could do, and Radley was right—Lawton had to be stopped. The Blast Spheres couldn't be allowed to go off.

Radley looked to him one last time, the sorrow filling his eyes. "Kalin, I'm sorry you'll have to see this. I don't know what else to do to stop the Blast Spheres. So . . . this is goodbye. Rainbow Dragon . . . attack."

The beast roared. As with Hamon, something seemed to be giving it enough free will to obey Radley. It blasted away Lawton's hateful monster and the rest of his lifepoints. Lawton screamed in pain. The remainder of the ledge rumbled under them and broke, sending them both plunging downward into the water far below.

"RADLEY!" Kalin ran forward, his heart pounding. Somewhere behind him he heard Barbara screaming as she apparently caught up from wherever she'd been, but he paid little attention. By the time he got down to the shoreline, he couldn't see either man or any of the debris from the blast.

"No. . . ." His coat was flung high in the next moment, swirling into the grass as he leaped into the water. But it was dark and cold and he could barely see. He surfaced, gasping for air. "Radley, where are you?!"

"Kalin!"

He looked over as Yusei made his way down from the rocks on the other side of the shore, followed closely by Lector. Both were worried, and neither looked hopeful. It was hard to say how much they had seen, but Kalin had no time to explain.

"I have to find him, Yusei!" Kalin cried. "He went down around here somewhere! He . . ." He trembled and dove under the surface again. His lungs were burning before he resurfaced again.

By now Yusei was at the shoreline. "Kalin, you can't go down again!" he exclaimed. "You're being too reckless!"

"He'll die if I don't find him now, Yusei!" Kalin snapped.

"Kalin, you're going to die if you keep this up!" Yusei countered.

Ignoring that, Kalin dived again. He swam farther this time, and deeper, reaching out as far as he could, praying to feel another person and praying that it wouldn't be Lawton. But there was nothing. His lungs were burning again, but this time he didn't surface. He had to find Radley. He had to . . . !

The lack of oxygen was getting to him, pulling him under to a watery grave, when he was suddenly and abruptly pulled to the surface choking and gasping. "Kalin, this isn't helping," Yusei told him. "You're almost dying yourself. You know Radley wouldn't want that!"

Kalin coughed, slumping in resignation against his oldest friend. "You're always saving me, Yusei." He shut his eyes tightly, trembling against the cold and the heartache and the grief that was threatening to engulf him. "I can't find him. I can't. . . ."

Yusei drew a firm arm around the shivering boy as he guided him back to shore. "I know." His voice caught in his throat.

Lector was waiting at the shore, holding out Kalin's coat. He wrapped Kalin in it and drew him close, rubbing his back through the coat. "We have to get you inside, Mr. Kessler," he said quietly.

Kalin just went silently, saying nothing more.  
****  
Joey stood on a nearby hill, staring, as the timer flickered and shut off just in time. ". . . He stopped it," he said in amazement and disbelief. "He really stopped it. . . ."

Solomon was sheet-white. "And he fell from that ledge over there!" He pointed to the castle wall. "Oh . . ." He shook his head. "He couldn't have survived that fall. . . ."

"Lector survived going over a waterfall," Nesbitt growled. "There's still hope! There has to be. . . ."

Malcolm just looked shaken and unsure of what to think. "Then . . . Lawton is dead too. . . ."

"He didn't even care about you," Nesbitt grunted. "You care about him?"

Malcolm looked away. "I . . . never thought on him being dead. . . ."

A powerful wind swept over the entire area. As everyone stared in shock, the deadened grass and hills began to flourish. Duel Monsters of every kind began to chirp and roar, free of the evil power. Ancient Fairy Dragon rose from her prison with a huge flap of her wings.

"Ancient Fairy Dragon!" Luna exclaimed. "You're okay!"

"Yes. But . . ." Ancient Fairy Dragon turned to look towards the water. "My freedom, and the freedom of this world, came at a price. . . ."

"He can't be gone!" Leo cried. "We were just getting to be friends! And he . . . he's Kalin's friend. . . . What's Kalin going to do without him?!"

"He will certainly need his other friends right now," Ancient Fairy Dragon said. "This will be a grave trial for him. I wish it hadn't had to be this way."

Nesbitt growled. "I'm still not giving up!" he insisted. "We'll drag the sea. If we get on it right now, we might find him!"

"We may find his body," Gansley said. "I doubt there's much chance of anything else. The children shouldn't be here for this."

"I'll take them inside the castle or something," Crow said. He sighed, heavily. "Lawton stacked the deck against us, literally!" He punched the air. "There must have been something else we could've done, but what?!"

"I can't think of anything," Gansley said quietly.

Joey's shoulders slumped. As Tristan came over to him, he said, "We messed up again."

Tristan shoved his hands in his pockets. "Yeah, I know." He looked out towards the water. "And we can't fix it."

"He didn't blame either of you," Solomon said quietly.

"That doesn't mean we don't feel really crummy right now," Joey said.

"I know," Solomon said, laying his hands on their shoulders.  
****  
Yami Marik snarled as the trees all around him and Marik began to come to life, sprouting new leaves and buds. "No! . . ."

"Well, this was unexpected for you, I take it," Marik remarked. He smirked, in spite of the pain and the wounds from the real damage Yami Marik had ended up inflicting on him. "Radley won."

"And he's probably dead," Yami Marik sneered.

Marik growled. "We don't know that. Are we going to finish this duel?"

Yami Marik leaped back. "I think it's gone on long enough."

"What?!" Marik stared at him. "So now that Lawton's control is broken, you're not interested in continuing?! Or maybe it's because I'm almost about to beat you in spite of your Dark Synchros."

"It's more that I want you to get out there and see what chaos has been left in his wake," Yami Marik grinned. "And I have a few parting words for you." He jumped back to Marik's side. "I am the one from our dimension," he whispered in the boy's ear.

With that he vanished, leaving a very shaken Marik staring after him.


End file.
